Cruel Fate
by xPaperheartsx
Summary: Kaori Subaki has the Two Tails sealed within her.Her mission is to either bring the Leaf to it's knees under her village or destroy it.But will a twist of fate involving Naruto,Sakura and the whole gang change her mind? Pairings: NaruSaku and slight OC/OC
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! I know the summary sucks and all but like it says this fic involves my Naruto OC Kaori. But not to worry! There is going to be **loads** of NaruSaku in this fic as well. So please don't feel too discouraged by my OC, I promise she won't bite...much. O.O

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters. All I own are the characters I created for the story and my OC.**

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><p><strong>Then.<strong>

Tadashi Moto sat at his desk, staring intently down at the scroll before him. His personal messenger had been on recon near the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf Village and had urgently sent a messenger bird with said scroll attached. His tired eyes re-read the letter once more.

_Lord Moto,_

_I have little time to spare so forgive me for this brief message. During my assigned reconnaissance mission outside the Village Hidden in the Leaves, I have witnessed a horrific and mystifying site. It seems as if the Nine Tailed Fox Demon has revealed itself and is currently attacking the Hidden Leaf. The sheer power of the beast is enough to incinerate any who come too close. However, the most interesting part was the fact that the Fourth Hokage of the Leaf Village personally confronted the beast. The battle did not last long, for the Fourth summoned a giant toad and began to perform a powerful sealing jutsu. I tried my best to get closer and watched as the Fourth somehow managed to seal the Nine Tails within a newborn. I do not know the consequences of that jutsu, but it appeared to be deadly. I apologize for my lack of information, but I shall make up for it by entering the Leaf Village and gathering more specific intel._

The letter was not signed, for the lord's personal messengers were trained to only sign if their identity were in doubt. Besides, when you have only one personal messenger, you tend to memorize that person's handwriting.

'_Oh Kami...' _The middle-aged man ran his calloused hands through his brown, slightly greyed, hair. _'As if we didn't have enough trouble from the Leaf, now they've got a Jinchuriki too.'_

Tadashi knew something had to be done, he'd worked too hard to keep the peace and also to keep his dream alive. _'This village has grown over the years, mostly thanks to me. However, it'll never grow into something bigger.' _He paused as his gaze caught a certain painting hanging on the opposite wall. It was a well-done painting of the Two Tailed Cat Demon. It had been given to him as part of a peace offering by the lord of another land bordering theirs. The second part of the peace offering was the Two Tailed Monster Cat.

Thousands of thoughts and ideas flew through his mind, before he finally came to a decision. _Our village will never grow any bigger at this rate. However, if we had a Jinchuriki of our own...'_

Mina Sabaki sat on a swing in her backyard, humming softly to the little bundle in her arms. The woman looked down and smiled fondly at her newborn daughter's face, her dark blonde, almost brown, hair swaying in the breeze. A pair of soft aqua orbs gazed up at her in wonder, a small tuft of blonde hair sticking up off the girl's cranium. Mina chuckled and began to sing softly.

_"My little sunshine, my only sunshine._

_You make me happy when skies are grey._

_You'll never know dear, how much I love you._

_Please don't take my sunshine away."_

Suddenly, two shinobi landed swiftly in front of Mina and her child. Their faces were unreadable, their emotions masked to near perfection.

"Mina Sabaki. Lord Moto has requested you presence immediately."

The second nin spoke up. "We are your personal escort. Be sure to bring your child with you."

Confusion lined Mina's features as she hesitantly followed the two shinobi to Lord Moto's office. Her mind raced with a million different scenarios, most involving her mission-busy husband.

_'What could Lord Moto possibly want with me? What if Jiro's been...'_

The trio quickly arrived at the lord's office and were met with a calm, yet slightly upset Tadashi Moto. He felt a bit guilty at what he was about to propose, but he'd quickly replaced it with sheer determination and reason.

"Mina Sabaki, I've called you here as a matter of great importance to our village." He held his chin on his folded hands, forehead wrinkled.

"L-Lord Moto, what do you mean? Has it something to do with my husband?"

The man shook his head, slightly frustrated. "No. It concerns your daughter."

Dead silence. The tension in the air felt suffocating.

"Y-You mean...Kaori? But...why her Lord Moto?"

Tadashi sighed deeply, the guilt slowly returning. "We need her body for a sealing jutsu..."

Mina cut him off. "A sealing jutsu! What the hell for? Can't you use a prisoner or someone else? Why her? She's just a child!"

The two nin looked at each other for a moment, but said nothing. They already knew what was planned for this newborn and, as much as they tried not to, they felt pity for the young mother.

"Word has reached me that the Village Hidden in the Leaves has acquired a Jinchuriki, the jailor of the Nine Tailed Fox Demon no less." Mina opened her mouth to interject, but a sharp glare from Tadashi silenced her.

"I plan on performing a sealing jutsu to seal the Two Tails inside your daughter."

Mina almost fainted from shock. Her daughter was to have a murderous demon sealed within her. It seemed as if she were in some kind of twisted nightmare. Unfortunately, she knew very well this was all real.

"...Lord Moto please. I beg you to reconsider!" Desperation laced the woman's tone as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.

The lord shook his head. "I am sorry. My mind is already made up. Please hand over your daughter now. The sooner we get this over with the better."

After about 15 minutes of arguing and failing to change the man's mind, Mina finally let one of the shinobi take her daughter from her arms. Tears cascaded down her face and a sob racked her body.

"Lord Moto. One last request. Please tell no one in the village of her holding the demon, they would only try to hurt her."

Tadashi sighed and agreed, knowing fully well that the villagers would find out some way or other.

That night, Tadashi and the members of the council had gathered in a deserted clearing outside the village. The council was there to merely observe the sealing, while Tadashi was the only one strong enough to perform the jutsu. Once everything was ready, a nin entered the clearing with a small bundle in its arms. The nin placed the child gently on the ground and whispered a soft apology before returning to the shadows. Tadashi closed his eyes to focus his chakra and simultaneously began running through hand signs.

**Now.**

7 year-old Kaori Sabaki sat hidden in a small tree, her breathing quick and erratic. The young ninja-in-training gripped the branch she was standing on tightly, her knuckles turning white from the pressure.

_'Why me? Why must they always hurt me?'_

Kaori had shoulder-length blonde hair, one piece being held in a mini ponytail. Her soft aqua eyes scanned the ground for any sign of her tormentors. Her sharp hearing listened for the slightest sound of danger. And then she heard it; laughter. Evil laughter.

"Heeeyyy Kaoriiii! Come out come out where ever you are!" A small boy her age appeared over a hill, followed by two other boys and a girl.

"Aw come on Kaoriiii! Why don't you come play with us?" The children chanted, their voices sounding almost in sync.

Kaori bit her quivering lip, her body shaking uncontrollably. _'They can't find me. I can't let them find me. Who knows what they'll do this time...'_

The girl's high-pitched voice rose up. "Heeerrree kitty kitty! Why not play with us?"

Shortly after Kaori's 1st birthday, word had gotten out that the girl held the Two Tails within her. All hell broke loose after that. Her parents had received threats, angry notes, you name it. Some drunk even tried to burn down their house once. It hadn't been so bad when her father was around; he was one of the strongest ninja in their village after all. But one day he didn't return from a mission...at least alive anyway. He came home a hero wrapped in a bloody blanket. Kaori's mom had been devastated and on several occasions had actually attempted suicide. She began drinking and would sometimes accuse and beat her daughter, drunk or not.

A shuriken whizzing past her ear snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked down and instantly regretted it.

"Hey Kaori, watcha doin up there?" It was the boy from before, except this time he held three other shuriken in his right hand.

The girl snickered, "maybe she's practicing her tree climbing skills. After all, they say cats aren't the best at climbing _down _trees." Kami that girl could be really dumb sometimes.

The young Jinchuriki couldn't resist the urge to bare her teeth at the children, her small canines visible.

"Ooh, the big bad kitty's gonna get me!" The second boy laughed as he pretended to cower in fear.

The first boy punched the other boy and raised his right hand. "You gonna come down or what?"

Kaori narrowed her eyes and jumped out of the tree, over the heads of the not-so-surprised kids, and took off. Due to the fact that she had the Two Tails sealed within her, Kaori had amazing speed and stamina. Although that didn't seem to help when a shuriken struck her back leg.

"Ah!" She cried out in surprise and pain as she crashed painfully into the ground. She slowly pulled out the shuriken and tossed it aside, holding the wound with her left hand.

"Well what have we got here? A stray cat?" The children had returned and were looking more impish than before.

The girl pointed. "I think I heard my dad say something about a lucky cat's foot."

Kaori's eyes widened. "Hmm...a lucky cat's foot huh? Sounds good, but first..." The first boy handed the other three his shuriken, before pulling out a kunai for himself.

"I think we should make the kitty sing for us."

The young blonde shrieked in pain as the kunai dug deep into her arm, followed by shuriken in other places. The smell of her own blood filled the girl's nose, the metallic scent stinging her nose. The girl yelled at the Jinchuriki and gave her a hard kick in the ribs. Kaori could do nothing more than shelter her head and face, all the while crying out in howls of pain. Then it stopped. A _very _bad sign.

"That was great Kaori, now it's time to play knives." Kaori's head shot up, half of her not wanting to believe what she'd heard.

"Now you remember the rules right?" Silence. The girl kicked the blonde in the head, moving the girl a good two feet away.

"Answer him freak!" Freak. One of her many nicknames throughout the village, and that wasn't even close to what the adults called her.

Kaori wiped her tear stained cheeks. "No. I won't...be afraid of you...any...more!"

The young blonde had always been determined, and a bit rebellious. If she'd had enough of someone or something she'd ignore or confront it. Unfortunately, this usually ended with her in the hospital, sometimes near death.

One of the other boys yanked her hair up and pulled her face close to his. "What did you say Demon.?" The girl didn't give her a chance to answer, instead she punched the blonde in the gut; blood and spit flying out of her mouth.

"I think she said no," started the third boy. "I think she needs to be taught a lesson, right guys?" Demonic grins reflected off the children's faces.

The girl and two other boys dropped the shuriken and pulled out kunai of their own. They chanted made-up songs about the demon cat girl and called her the many horrible names she'd been bestowed. Fifteen minutes. The merciless beating went on for fifteen minutes before a jonin finally arrived and drove them away.

The man said not a word as he picked up the unconscious body of Kaori and rushed to the hospital. Although his face didn't show it, the nin was quite worried about the young Jinchuriki. He was among the few who didn't hate the girl, after all it wasn't _her_ decision to have the beast sealed within her. _She _hadn't asked to be handed such a cruel fate as becoming a Jinchuriki.

A few minutes later the girl was being grudgingly treated in the E.R. The male nin had to literally threaten the doctor's life in order for him to begin healing her. Her wounds were extensive, but he'd seen worse. Much worse. Her injuries were only caused by children after all, try to imagine what damage a mob of angry villagers could do.

Her left ankle was twisted at a weird angle, and her face was dirty, bloody and bruised. Miraculously she'd lost no teeth, but her nose was broken and one of her eyes was swollen shut. She had three broken ribs along with a fractured collarbone. Her right arm had been dislocated and two fingers on both hands were broken. Her hair was ratty and bloody, a small trickle of blood oozed out of her head. She had multiple bruises and scratches, and her entire body was covered in deep gashes that ran zig zags across it. God knows what her insides looked like.

After she was treated, she was given a room to rest in before she was hurriedly discharged. A pale-skinned nurse walked in and checked the girl's charts. Though the nurse did not care for the blonde Jinchuriki, it still pulled at her heartstrings to see a 7 year-old beaten up so badly. Hesitantly, the nurse approached the bed, as if the girl were going to leap up and attack her. Hey, you never know when there's a demon child around.

The nurse, whose nametag read Sayuri, gently brushed the matted hair from the girl's bruised face. She took in all the thick bandages that adorned the child's body, the purple bruises that dotted what little skin was visible. '_Sweet Kami, how were mere children able to cause so much damage?'_ A muffled groan startled the nurse as the young blonde slowly opened her eyes, one of them being partially closed due to the swelling. "W-where am I? Whatssgoinon?" Her speech slurred a little as her head began spinning.

"...You're in the hospital...dear..." It didn't hurt to say 'dear' as much as Sayuri thought it would.

The girl named Kaori swore under her breath, though loud enough for Sayuri to hear.

Kaori struggled to pull herself up, a sharp gasp of pain escaping her lips. The nurse rushed to the bed and stopped her before she reopened any wounds.

"Please Kaori-chan, try not to move so much. Otherwise you'll just make yourself bleed again."

Kaori looked at the woman in shock, no one had ever called her Kaori_-chan_ before. The blonde began to search for any possible reasons as to why this woman was being so nice.

_'Someone must have spiked her drink or something...yeah that's probably it. That or she's gone crazy.'_

A low growl echoed in the girl's ears.

_**This woman is being sincere. I can smell her concern for you, and also something else. Fear perhaps?**_

_'Buzz off, I hate when you interrupt my thoughts.'_

Another growl, but louder this time.

_**Insolent brat! Why they chose you to seal me in will forever be a mystery to me.**_

Sayuri cleared her throat to get the girl's attention. _'Is she just spacing out or what? Her facial expressions keep changing slightly. Almost as if she's...having a conversation with someone...' _The woman was broken out of her thoughts by the girl's voice.

"Um...sorry...I..I don't mean to be a bother or anything. I promise I won't take up your time, just let me-" By now Kaori had slowly dragged her legs over the side of the bed and was trying to touch the floor. Bad idea.

As soon as her feet hit the floor her world began spinning and she instantly collapsed onto the floor. Causing a few of her wounds to reopen and bleed furiously.

Sayuri rushed over. "Dammit! Nurse! Nurse!" Sayuri swore again as she rolled the unconscious Kaori onto her back. Blood slowly began to pool onto the cool tile floor, the sharp smell familiar to Sayuri's senses. She gritted her teeth as she added pressure to the open wounds to try and stem the bleeding, until another nurse came.

After what seemed like an eternity, a red haired nurse burst in, her eyes wide in fear. "What's going on? Why are you on th-" She suddenly froze in place, her clipboard clutched tightly to her chest.

"What the hell are you waiting for? Come and help me!" Sayuri demanded. The nurse simply stared at the blonde haired child bleeding on the floor.

"I-Is that t-the d-demon g-girl?" Her fearful stuttering only enraged Sayuri more.

"What does it matter? She's fallen and opened up her wounds! Now get your skinny ass over here and help me!" That finally snapped the redhead out of her shock and she quickly walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a large roll of bandages. 10 minutes later Kaori was placed in her bed with five new sets of wrappings.

Sayuri wiped the sweat off her brow and sighed in relief. "Phew. I'm glad that's over." The red haired nurse looked very frightened and nervous as she stood a little farther from the bed. "Uh...sure but..." A glare from Sayuri instantly silenced the nurse. The red haired nurse sweat dropped nervously, suddenly getting the feeling her life was in danger. "Ok weelll I think I'm gonna just...gocheckonmyotherpatientsokbye!" The door slammed shut loudly.

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><p>Same time-Hidden Leaf Village.<p>

"Here Sakura-chan, it's...it's for you." Naruto Uzumaki held out a small bouquet of yellow and red wild flowers to a girl his age with pink hair and jade eyes. Sakura smiled. "Thanks Naruto-kun." She grabbed the flowers and smelled them, then looked at the blonde boy with a grin. "Oh and happy birthday Naruto-kun!"

Naruto was surprised, not only was Sakura accepting his gift, but now she was wishing him a happy birthday? What was going on?

"Um..thanks!" He rubbed the back of his head nervously. Sakura giggled. They were both 7 years-old and enrolled in the Ninja Academy. Although Naruto got on her nerves in the beginning, she began to soften towards him after he'd been the first to give her a gift for her birthday. It had been a simple flower clip that resembled a cherry blossom, but it had meant the world to her when he held it out to her, his fox grin spread across his whiskered face. True, she still chased after Sasuke a bit, but she had knocked herself down a few pegs by how much she actually _tried_ to get his attention.

"Haha, your welcome Naruto-kun." She smiled the smile she reserved just for him. She'd been working on it for a couple days. She giggled again as Naruto blushed slightly. "Oh! Naruto-kun I have something for you." She rummaged around in her little backpack and held out a small brown box. It was decorated in little stickers of flowers, bugs, and other random childish things. If you looked close enough you'd notice a sticker of a little fox on the lid.

"I made this just for you!" He hesitated, last year he'd been given a box on his birthday only to find a bottle of juice that he'd found out later, (the hard way I might add) that the 'juice' was actually pee.

Slowly he took the box and just looked at it. Sakura lightly punched his arm, "C'mon open it." She flashed him another sweet smile, causing him to instantly melt. He nodded and removed the lid and gasped in surprise. Inside was a black headband with an orange colored leaf village symbol in the center. Next to it were a few cherry blossoms and some candy. Finally in the center was a photo of Sakura in a cute pink and white dress with her red ribbon in her hair, a cute smile on her face. The words on the bottom right corner of the photo read;

_To my fox, Naruto-kun_

_~Sakura_

The blue-eyed blonde's heart skipped a beat. Sakura Haruno. One of Sasuke's many fan girls, was being nice to him AND giving him a birthday present. Only one word seemed to be able to form in the boy's mind. '_Wow.'_

Sakura squirmed a little, afraid that he didn't like his present, due to his silence. "N-Naruto-kun...it's ok if you don't like it. I-" The pinkette was cut off by the blonde's arms wrapping themselves around her body in a gentle embrace. A blush crept up her cheeks as she happily returned the hug. Naruto's breath tickled her ear. "I love it. Thank you, Sakura-chan."

_Three years later._

Tadashi Moto watched silently as a young blonde girl sparred against another girl with long black hair. He paid close attention to the blonde and how she'd block an oncoming punch or kick. How she'd use her extraordinary speed and agility against her opponent. A few moments later the blonde girl landed a roundhouse kick to the other girl's side, knocking the girl away.

A tall man wearing the standard ninja attire stepped out from the shadows. "Alright that's enough for now. Kaori, you did quite well, but next time try to analyze your opponent a little more before throwing kicks and punches." Kaori bowed her head respectively, the nin then turned to the black-haired girl. "Eri, while you took the time to analyze your opponent to figure out her weak points, you forgot to keep your guard up at all times. Which resulted in your loss."

The two children faced the nin and bowed again, their response in unison. "Yes, Dai-sensei. Thank you."

After their teacher Dai-sensei disappeared in the woods once more, Eri spun towards Kaori with a look of pure annoyance. "You're such a loser ya know that?" Kaori gave the angry girl a sidelong glance. "Why do you say that Eri? Is it because I just kicked your butt?" Eri's eyebrow twitched, "Ugh! I hate you so much!" The girl's outburst didn't faze the blonde in the least. She let out a tired sigh and stretched her arms above her head. "Weell, as much fun as this has been I've got some more private training to do." She walked off, sending a small wave to her fuming spar-mate.

"I see you've gotten faster." A voice said, though the blonde didn't even bat an eye. "I see you've been spying on me again eh pops?" An older version of Lord Moto stepped out from behind a tree, his eyebrow twitching ever so slightly at the nickname. He chuckled. "You better watch that mouth of yours Kaori, wouldn't want you to..." The man's voice drifted off, guilt immediately consuming him. The aqua-eyed girl closed her eyes and forced a small smile. "Aw don't worry 'bout me." She lightly punched Tadashi's arm. "At least I can actually run faster than those dumb villagers. They'll never catch me."

Tadashi laughed a bit at the girl's over enthusiasm, even if it was about a very dark matter. "Sooo...how's the search for that _classy_ woman of yours comin' along hm?" The older man began to sweat drop nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Er..well...it's going ok. I haven't find _the one _yet, but I'm sure I will soon." For some strange reason, the young Jinchuriki had been pestering Tadashi to find a woman for himself, so that when he retired he wouldn't be alone in his 'big ass house' as Kaori referred to it.

The blonde shook her head disapprovingly. "Pops, you're never gonna find _the one_ if you don't actually try!" For the next 5 minutes, Tadashi was lectured by a _ten _year-old how to find a woman. How awkward.

"See ya later pops! I gotta go train before it gets too late." She waved to the older man before dashing onto the rooftops and disappearing in the distance. Tadashi shook his head, a small smile on his tired face. '_Oh Kaori, how you deal with almost the entire village giving you hell everyday is beyond me.'_

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><p>Same time-Leaf Village.<p>

Sakura Haruno sat on a bench with her head in her hands, a small pile of books lying forgotten next to her. She sighed deeply. _'Man, some of this ninja stuff is hard to learn. I mean I'm really smart and all but still...' _Her thoughts were temporarily interrupted by a pair of birds flitting in the air, before disappearing into the horizon. _'I still haven't gotten Sasuke-kun to really notice me at all. It's like I'm invisible or something.'_

_**Sometimes I wonder why you still chase after him.**_

Sakura groaned loudly, slamming her forehead onto her arms. It was her Inner again. What a pain.

_Why shouldn't I keep trying? One of the most important rules in life is to not give up._

Inner Sakura snorted. _**Listen to yourself. He barely even notices us at the academy and the only words he's ever said to us so far is that we're annoying.**_

_Yeah...so... _She began._ Once I'm a ninja I'll be able to show him how strong I am and-_

_**And what? He'll fall madly in love with you and you'll live happily ever after? **_Inner Sakura shook her head, a muscle in her head pulsing. _**This is not a fairytale Sakura. Life doesn't work that way.**_

Ok, now her inner was really making her mad. Why was she suddenly against her affections for Sasuke-kun?

_What's wrong with you? Before you fully supported all my attempts to get Sasuke-kun's attention._

Inner Sakura's eyebrow twitched in sheer annoyance. _**I've come to realize that **_**Sasuke**_** doesn't deserve our love and care. But I do know another boy who certainly deserves it. **_

Sakura swallowed nervously, a part of her already knowing who that certain boy was. Still, she asked whom.

Inner Sakura opened her eyes, which held a certain gleam in them. _**Naruto Uzumaki.**_

Sakura wasn't too surprised. Over the four years she'd been in the Academy she'd stitched together a friendship with the whiskered boy. Though sometimes it was hard to keep it hidden at the Academy, so they only talked to each other afterwards. A strange fluttering in her stomach suddenly struck Sakura as she looked back on the last couple years. She remembered all the funny pranks he pulled on the teachers, mainly Iruka-sensei. She smiled when she remembered her tenth birthday a month ago.

_Flashback_

_Sakura sat underneath a small apple tree outside the Academy, a tiny frown adorning her face. 'I can't believe Sasuke-kun didn't get me anything...' Today was her tenth birthday, one of the most important birthdays in a person's life. 'He didn't even say happy birthday...' Sakura hadn't received a single present or even a simple 'happy birthday' all day. Ever since she had found out that Ino liked Sasuke, they'd become rivals in winning the Uchiha's affections._

_Ino had been the only other friend she'd had at the Academy, so since they were now rivals she hadn't received a gift from the platinum blonde. She squeezed her eyes closed, tears threatening to escape. 'It's as if...no one cares about me.' Suddenly a shadow covered Sakura's body. She slowly opened her eyes, which instantly met with a pair of bright cerulean orbs._

_"Hey Sakura-chan! Happy Birthday...hey why are you crying? Did that Sasuke guy say something mean to you?" His concerned eyes seemed to look right into Sakura's soul._

_She laughed a little and quickly wiped her eyes. "Oh thanks Naruto-kun! No, Sasuke-kun didn't say anything mean to me...it's just..." She hesitated. She hated to burden him with her own problems. Suddenly she felt a soft hand brush her cheek, his hand brushing a stray lock of pink behind her ear. He smiled softly. "Sakura-chan please tell me what's wrong. I hate to see you sad." Kami, he may be an idiot sometimes, but whenever he was around her he almost always knew just what to say._

_She sighed. "It's just...no one got me a present or even said happy birthday to me. I didn't even mention it to Sasuke-kun and he didn't even glance at me." The pinkette bowed her head sadly. "I...just feel as if no one cares about me. I feel like no one would even care if something happened to m-" She was immediately cut off by Naruto wrapping her into a tight embrace. His voice sounded so sad. "Sakura-chan...please stop talking. Y-you don't know what you're saying..." Sakura suddenly felt something wet on her shoulder and realized that the blonde was crying. 'Is he...crying for me?'_

_Naruto buried his face into Sakura's neck, muffling his sobs. "I-I care about you...I don't know what I'd do if-" He sobbed, his hold on Sakura's body tightening ever so slightly. "If something were to happen to you..." By now Sakura was returning the blonde's embrace, tears streaming down her cheeks, soaking his shoulder. But the boy's next words really got to the pinkette. "...If something happened to you I'd...I'd kill myself." Sakura gasped loudly and pulled herself from his embrace, her hands firmly gripping his shoulders, her jade eyes locking onto his sapphire orbs. "Listen to me Naruto-kun. Don't you _ever_ say that again. You hear me?" Her voice cracked as tears poured down both children's faces. "I care about you Naruto-kun and I promise I won't let _anything _happen to you."_

_The blonde boy's eyes widened in shock, his eyes still lost in the sea of jade that were Sakura's eyes. 'Did she really just say that she cares about me? Or is this some crazy dream?' Naruto shook his head and held out his fist, pinkie extended. He grinned his fox-like grin, which he usually reserved for Sakura alone. "Pinkie promise?" Sakura laughed and lightly bopped his head. "Baka." Then she connected her pinkie with his. "Pinkie promise."_

_End Flashback_

Sakura blushed at the memory, her heart racing. Her Inner smirked inside her mind.

_**See? You even told him you cared about him. Heck, you pinkie promised to protect him!**_

Sakura was quiet for a moment, before a big smile spread across her face. _You know what? You're right._

Inner Sakura scoffed. _**Of course I'm right. I'm always-wait a second. Did you just...agree with me on something?**_

Sakura laughed. _I guess so. Must be the end of the world. _Her Inner laughed dryly.

_**Haha very funny. Now, what are you going to do about Naruto?**_

The pink-haired girl stood up and gathered her books in her arms, heading towards the bustling village. A big smile on her face, her eyes brighter than they'd been in a month.

_'I'll keep my promise to you Naruto-kun. I'll protect you with my life.'_

_One week later_

Kaori lay exhausted in the middle of the training ground, her chest heaving as she gulped in oxygen. For the past week she'd been coming to this training ground to practice her speed, strength, and skill. Even though she was already being trained in these same fields at the Academy, the blonde still felt the need to push herself. Because in reality, Kaori was running from something, something lodged deep within her mind. Failure.

Her aqua eyes narrowed and she growled at the night sky. _'I've got to keep training. It's the only way I'll be strong enough to help protect the village.' _She glanced towards the lights of the village. _'Even if they don't want me to.'_ Slowly, the girl pulled herself into a sitting position and gazed up at the stars. She thought back three years ago when she made her first ever true friend. Her name was Sayuri Namine; she was a nurse at the village hospital, the head nurse actually. Kaori's memory was a little fuzzy with how they first became friends, but she did remember waking up to see the woman placing a vase of flowers with a balloon next to her bed. She knew it had been after another run-in with the small group of children, or imps, as she liked to call them. They hadn't said much, Kaori was far too nervous and afraid she might verbally abuse her if she said anything. But somehow they became friends and whenever Kaori was administered into the hospital, Sayuri was the _only_ one allowed to treat her.

The young Jinchuriki smirked as another memory popped up, this one from only a couple weeks ago. It had been Kaori's tenth birthday and Sayuri decided they should celebrate it together.

_Flashback_

_Kaori strolled through the front doors of the hospital, ignoring the glares she got from the other doctors/nurses, patients, or basically everybody. She stopped at the front desk and politely requested to see Dr. Namine. The receptionist gave her a look, but nodded her head and forced a smile as she called for Dr. Namine to come to the front desk. Although the blonde girl hadn't completely won over the receptionist, she had at least gotten the woman used to her visits and would sometimes even receive an apple or, once in a blue moon, a cookie._

_Sayuri speed-walked down the linoleum hallway, her heels clacking noisily on the smooth floor. 'Oh what does that woman want now? I bet she's gotten some drunk at the desk again.' However, her tight-lipped frown instantly grew into a soft smile as she saw a familiar blonde haired girl at the front desk. "Dr. Namine, Miss Sabaki has requested your presence." Sayuri nodded to the younger woman and bent and gave Kaori a hug. "Oi, Sayuri-san. Why did you want me to come all the way here to get you?" The girl pouted a little. "I could've been training right now." The older woman laughed heartily. "Well, as for the reason; it's a surprise." _

_Another pout. "Come on Miss Sabaki, we shouldn't waste our time standing here." Kaori just shook her head, confused, and followed the brown-haired woman through the exit."_

_Their first stop was Sayuri's house, which was a one story with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. She grew her own personal herb garden in the backyard, while growing a normal garden in the front. Kaori was amazed by how neat and organized the inside was. She waited patiently for Sayuri to change clothes and sat down on the felt couch. A few minutes later they were walking through the village, both receiving heated glares from the civilians. It unnerved Sayuri a bit, she'd never had those kinds of stares thrown her way. Kaori on the other hand was either completely oblivious or purposefully ignoring the angry glares._

_"Ne Sayuri-san, can I ask you a question?" The older woman looked down at the blonde girl. "Of course." The girl put her arms behind her head. "What was your childhood like?"_

_It was an odd question to say the least. Usually you'd hear that question from older adults, but never a child. "Well...my childhood was pretty average really." Aqua eyes glanced her way. "I mean, I come from an average civilian family. So growing up was simply going to school, learning, trying to get along with your siblings and parents..." Kaori noticed the woman had a dreamy sort of look in her eyes._

_"I always dreamed of becoming a princess when I was little. You know, the ones who get saved by a handsome shinobi." The blonde Jinchuriki couldn't help but giggle at the childish dream. "As I got older, I realized I wanted to help people, just not by becoming a ninja." Sayuri looked a bit downcast. "I'm not the kind of person who would give their life for someone else," she murmured._

_The two were silent for most of the way. Then it finally hit Kaori. "What a sec! Where the heck are we going?" Sayuri smirked a devious smirk. "First, we're going to get some lunch. What would you like?" Kaori decided on barbeque. They entered the second best barbeque in the village and took a seat at a table. They received a few sneers, most directed at Kaori, and waited for their order to be taken. "I'll have the steak please with just a glass of water, lemon please." The waitress jotted the order down and turned to leave, not even bothering to take Kaori's order. _

_Sayuri called out. "Excuse me ma'am, I'm afraid you forgot to take the young ladies order." The waitress turned half her body towards their table and gave Sayuri a cold stare, her mouth pulled up in a snarl. "What young lady? I see only a blood-thirsty demon." Suddenly, it felt as if everyone's eyes were on the three, the majority looking at Kaori expectantly. _

_Sayuri stood up and looked the young woman dead in the eyes. "You listen to me, I will not tolerate you insulting this girl. She is the only one in the entire village who is able to keep that demon from completely destroying this village." The waitress scoffed. "We've got enough strong shinobi to take down that beast. It doesn't stand a ch-" "You're wrong."_

_Now everyone was staring at the Jinchuriki, including Sayuri. Kaori fixed her cool gaze on the waitress, her voice sounded very strained. "You have no idea what that demon can do. It could kill us all with one swoop of it's tails." Someone shouted from the back. "Traitor! How dare you defend the Monster Cat! Have you no loyalty?" _

_Kaori felt a wave of anger roll over her as she directed her stare in the direction of the voice. "I am not defending the Two Tails. I am merely warning you of what will happen if you remain stupid and arrogant." A slammed fist was heard and a glass flew at the blonde's head, which she easily dodged. "Stop it! All of you! She's just a child!" Sayuri held up her hands._

_Kaori tugged on the older woman's sleeve and whispered for them to just leave. As Sayuri began to pull out money for the bill, Kaori stopped her. "They don't deserve your money." As they slowly made their way through the crowd, the blonde Jinchuriki gave the nurse a specific order. "If they try to hurt me, don't interfere. Please." Even though Sayuri knew she wouldn't be of much help if a fight did start, she still felt awful at being ordered to not help her. She nodded her head._

_The two were not even halfway to the exit when a burly man jumped in front of Kaori and grabbed a fistful of her hair. She bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming; she'd learned that showing them they were hurting her was only fuel to the fire. "You're pretty bold for a girl." He motioned in Sayuri's direction. "Someone hold her back, don't want our little show interrupted." The woman barely put up a struggle, knowing full well that she wasn't going to be any good to Kaori beaten and bloody._

_The waitress sauntered up and brought her serving tray down on the blonde's head, cheers rewarding her actions. "Scream you little brat. Scream like the freak you are!" The girl refused to scream, even though her head was pounding fiercely. Two teenagers crept up and ran their pocketknives across her arms, blood slowly dripping onto the floor. Kaori allowed a forbidden whimper to escape her lips. The teens grinned and one ran his knife slowly over her cheek and leaned close. He grinned maliciously as his tongue darted out and ran over the scratch, lapping up the blood. His breath tickled her ear and a shiver of fear crawled down her spine. "I know you want more..." His low husky voice made her tremble. "After all, that's all your body's good for. Demon whore."_

_The two teens disappeared into the throng of customers, leaving a horrified and shaking Kaori. "C'mon, you know you wanna scream. Just let it all out." The man yanked her up in the air until she was level with his eyes. She growled and spat in the man's face. "Never." The muscular man let out a roar of fury and flung her body into the wall behind the bar, her body crashing onto multiple glasses. Sayuri put a hand to her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. 'Dear Kami, please don't let her die.' The blonde was still for a moment, before she slowly began to push herself up. She struggled to get on her feet, collapsing onto more shattered glass a few times, before finally standing up. Sayuri almost fainted from shock. The girl's body was covered in blood, glass shards sticking out of almost every part of her body. _

_She had a cut over her left eye and her lip was busted, blood dribbling out of her mouth. Both arms were cut to shreds, completely covered in crimson blood. Her clothes looked better than her body, just a few rips and tears here and there, not excluding the multiple holes from the glass shards. Her hair was matted and bloody, and her knees were shaking terribly. Her breath came out ragged and strained. "...I...will not-ngh-fight...you..." The blonde took a shaky step forward, her fists clenched tightly against the pain. She headed straight for the exit, her steps becoming more and more solid. "...I won't let...you hurt...me..." The big man blocked her path, a stupid grin on his face. Kaori looked him dead in the eye and he could've sworn he saw her eyes flash yellow. "...And I will-ngh-not...let you...hurt Sayuri...-san..."_

_The young Jinchuriki pulled a kunai out from her hidden sheath and pointed it at the man, determination glittering in her aqua eyes. "Hahaha! You think that little toy is gonna hurt me?" He bellowed. "I'd like to see you try." In sudden burst of speed the girl had closed the distance between herself and the burly man. "What the-" His voice was cut off by a kunai sliding over his neck, blood gushing out and coating anyone too close. Everyone in the room was frozen in shock, which soon turned to fear, and then anger. The blonde Jinchuriki had just murdered an innocent civilian._

_The three men holding Sayuri were suddenly knocked onto the floor, one falling unconscious. A small hand grabbed Sayuri's arm and dragged her to the exit, leaving the stunned customers behind. The waitress climbed on top of a table and yelled for attention. "The demon brat must pay for her crimes. For murdering an innocent civilian!" The restaurant was filled with angry roars. "We must put a stop to this menace before she strikes again!" More approving shouts. "To Lord Moto!" Everyone bustled out of the barbeque and headed straight for their lord's office, fire burning in their eyes._

_End Flashback_

Kaori punched the tree trunk hard, ignoring the throbbing pain in her now bleeding knuckles. '_I shouldn't be thinking of that! It will only make me angry!' _She gritted her teeth in frustration.

_**Aw, but you know I love it when you get angry. **_A voice cooed.

The blonde shook her head._ No! I can't get angry. I have to stay calm or else-_

_**Or else I'll escape. Hahaha admit it! You want to use my power to show them who's strongest.**_

_No! That's a lie! I couldn't hurt any of them!_

The Two Tails laughed loudly. _**And yet you killed him! You killed the man who hurt you! Stop lying to yourself, I can see it, you're dying to take out your anger on them! Use my power! Unleash the power of the mighty Two Tailed Monster Cat!**_

Kaori grabbed her head and fell to her knees as she tried to block out the voice. It was true, she had killed that man. She had broken one of the most if not _the_ most important shinobi rules. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she fought to control the blood-thirsty demon. Suddenly, memories of that night came flooding back, weakening her control on the beast.

_Flashback_

_Kaori struggled to keep her focus as she ran with Sayuri, both their lives at serious risk. She knew the others would either chase after her or go straight to Lord Moto's office and report her, most likely asking for her immediate death. She stumbled as her vision began to blur, her body had lost too much blood. "Kaori, where are we going?"_

_"To the bunkers. You'll be safe there." The blonde gritted her teeth as the pain in her body began to increase once more. "But what about you?" Kaori was silent for a moment as her mind rushed to create an answer. "I'll just go hiding in the caves," she lied. "They won't be able to find me, even if they sent a group of ninjas after me." It was a horrible lie and she hoped Sayuri would buy it. "Well...alright. Just promise me you won't..." Kaori already knew what she was going to say and felt a knot of fear beginning to form in her stomach. She turned and gave the older woman a quick thumbs up and a grin. "Don't worry, I won't let it out. I'd rather die than hurt anybody else."_

_End Flashback_

"Ahh!" She screamed as she fought to drive back the horrible memory.

_**Come on Kaori...give in. Let me help you gain power!**_

Another surge of chakra pumped through the Jinchuriki's body, causing the girl's canines to extend into inch-long fangs. "No! Stop it! I don't want this!" She tugged on her hair as she desperately fought for control.

_**Come on Kitten, let me make those bad people go away. **_The Two Tails purred, calling Kaori by her nickname. _**Forever...**_

Kaori felt her nails growing longer as they began to cut into her scalp. Suddenly, another memory of that night popped into her mind.

_Flashback_

_"She...what?" Lord Moto sat at his desk, his personal messenger standing protectively near Tadashi, his hand gripping his katana's hilt. He eyed the large group of villagers warily, noticing that some were covered in blood._

_"That demon bitch killed Gordo! She slit his throat with her kunai!"_

_Lord Moto sat stunned as the villagers went on describing the incident. 'Kaori...have you really lost yourself to that-that demon?' Fear began spreading through his mind. 'No! It can't be. This must be a mistake, she would never harm an innocent. Nor would she be bested by that beast so easily.'_

_"Lord Moto, I request you send out a squad of shinobi to find and destroy the demon brat."_

_The older man stopped himself from refusing. His job was to look after the welfare of the village and it's residents. He couldn't just keep protecting her._

_"Very well, I shall dispatch a team immediately. In the meantime, I want all of you to go home, clean yourselves and calm yourselves. The issue should soon be dealt with."_

_The villagers all filed out, albeit some a little reluctantly, and his office was quiet once more. "Sir, I mean no disrespect but...you've looked after this child since the sealing. I doubt you truly intend to dispose of her. Besides, if we kill the girl we lose our chance at rising above the Leaf."_

_Lord Moto sighed, frustrated, as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know me too well Doku. However, I've got to come up with a way to make it look as if my men were simply overpowered, but not killed."_

_Silence, then the messenger called Doku spoke up. "Sir, I think I have a plan..."_

_End Flashback_

Kaori sat on her knees in the training ground marked G6. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck as she fought to calm her rapidly beating heart. The moon had been hidden by a lone cloud, and was now casting a cool glow upon the field.

A shimmer in the dark revealed a kunai shove into the girl's thigh, blood trickling down her leg. She winced as she pulled out the kunai, her hands trembling slightly. She'd stabbed her leg in a desperate effort to cease the Two Tails escape. Luckily, it had worked. The blonde cleaned the blood off her weapon and replaced it with a roll of bandages, which she used to stop the bleeding.

"I did it. I stopped that stupid cat...this time anyway." She got up and headed back towards the village, her body exhausted beyond belief.

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><p>And that's that! I hope you all enjoyed chapter 1! If you guys see any missing words, dialogue, etc. please let me know. Also, if you guys have any questions feel free to ask me. :) Everyon who leaves a review (except flamers) with receive a virtual cupcake! :D<p>

**Naruto: Hey Sakura, what's that weird button thing at the bottom of the page?**

**Sakura: Baka. That's a review button.**

**Naruto: ...**

**Sakura: *sigh* Whoever reads this story can click that button and leave a comment or whatever about what they thought about the story.**

**Naruto: OHH! I get it now! So it's like a happy button for the author?**

**Sakura: Um...yeah sure let's go with that. Oh hey Naruto look! It says that anyone who leaves a review gets a cupcake!**

**Naruto: CUPCAKE? I WANT ONE!**

**Sakura: Well come on then!**

**Naruto: *jumps on Sakura's back* Carry me!**

**Sakura: *sweatdrop* Na-ru-toooo!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters. All I own are the characters I created for the story and my OC.**

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><p>The next day-Leaf Village.<p>

Naruto grinned as he looked down at the B minus he'd gotten on his written test. He'd never gotten anything above a C minus, so of course the little knucklehead would be practically leaping out of his chair in excitement. His grin died down into a soft smile, his bright eyes dimming lightly.

'I would've never gotten that without Sakura-chan's help.' Just thinking about his pink-haired best friend gave Naruto butterflies in his stomach.

About a week ago, Sakura had come to Naruto and offered to help him study and do his homework. Of course, he happily accepted, feeling as if he was on Cloud Nine. The first day they'd gone over to Naruto's apartment to work, but the guys that hung around the building were giving Sakura some creepy looks, so they decided to work at Sakura's house instead.

At first, Sakura's mom had seemed reluctant to allow the fox boy inside, but with some reassurance from Sakura, her mother had finally relented. Heck, she even gave him a small smile! The sound of the bell interrupted the blonde's thoughts and he quickly rushed out the door, eager to spend time with his Sakura-chan.

"Naruto-kun!" Over here!" Her looked to see said pinkette waving to him from across the courtyard. He smiled a huge smile as he ran over, his feet leaving small trails of dust in his wake. "Hey Sakura-chan, you ready to go?" She giggled, a sound that made the blue-eyed boy melt. "Of course I'm ready baka." That was Sakura's little pet name for him, even though most everyone else at school called him 'baka', but whenever Sakura called him that it made him feel special. Still, he liked to tease her about it.

"Aw Sakura-chaaan! Why do you call me that?" He whined, feigning sadness. She smiled and lightly bopped his head. "Because you're my baka, baka."

_'Woah. Hold up. Did she just call me _her _baka?'_

_**Are you hard of hearing or just stupid? Yes, she called you **_**her _baka. Happy?_**

_Oh shut up fuzzball._

He only got a growl as a reply.

"Um, hellooo. Anybody home?" Naruto shook his head, "oh sorry Sakura-chan. I was just...uh...thinking." The pinkette rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, tugging him towards her house. "Come on baka, we've got work to do." Sakura holding his hand made the poor blonde blush furiously, his heart racing. He glanced around and noticed Ino and some other girls who were spying on Sasuke glaring at...Sakura?

_'What the heck?'_

He shook it off and squeezed Sakura's hand gently as he caught up to her, both falling into step with each other. A few minutes later they arrived at Sakura's house, both still holding hands, though both seemed to not notice. The door opened and revealed Sakura's mother Lynn Haruno. "Welcome home sweetie." She gave Sakura a kiss on the head. "And welcome back Naruto." She smiled sweetly at him which Sakura had confirmed to Naruto was completely sincere.

"Dinner's just about ready. You two head upstairs and get your stuff ready while I finish up with the food." The children nodded and ran up the stairs into Sakura's room. It was pretty simple; two of the walls were white while the other two were the color of Sakura's hair. Her bed was medium-sized with red and white sheets and pillows. She had a cherry wood dresser and desk, along with a freestanding floor mirror. Her window was big and had a mini couch underneath the sill, white curtains hanging wearily from the pole. A few pictures of her and her mom hung on the walls, but other than that the walls were bare.

The two plopped down on the bed side-by-side looking up at the white ceiling. "Hey Naruto-kun?" He blinked. "Yeah Sakura-chan?" The pinkette took a deep breath. "You wanna know what I've been wishing for lately?" His forehead furrowed in confusion, but he kept his gaze on the ceiling. "Sure." "Well, lately I've been thinking about when we become genin..." She smiled. "We'll all be put into three-man teams and put under the guidance of a jonin. I heard the teams are picked randomly, but I'm hoping that's not true."

Naruto shifted so that he lay on his side facing Sakura, his body propped up by his right elbow. "Why?" She closed her eyes. "Because I'd also heard from someone else that the teams were chosen according to the students that worked well with each other. I'm hoping that's true." The poor blonde was still lost, but decided not to voice it. "Why's that Sakura-chan?" She opened her eyes and copied Naruto's position, except she was facing him. "Because I want us to be on the same team, Naruto-kun." He was stunned to say the least, he knew he and Sakura were best friends, but he also thought she still chased after Sasuke. Whenever he saw her talking with Ino, it always made him worried that somehow Sakura would abandon him. Just like his parents.

Naruto looked into Sakura's eyes and smiled, the smile he reserved just for her. "Sakura-chan..." He sat up and pulled Sakura onto his lap, her back against his chest. He tried to rest his head on top of hers, but seeing as she was taller than him, he settled for her shoulder. Their proximity made both children blush, but also gave each other a sense of security. "I hope we're on the same team too." His breath tickled her ear and made her sigh in pleasure. "But even if we're on different teams, I'll still be there for you Sakura-chan. I'll still be there to protect you because..." He paused, afraid to continue. "I l-" The poor blonde never got to finish as Lynn's voice drifted from the kitchen.

The two reluctantly separated and headed downstairs for dinner.

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><p><em>Two years later<em>

_"_Congratulations! You are all officially genin."

The classroom erupted in a cacophony of hoops and hollers, the newly dubbed genin freely showing their excitement. A blonde haired girl near the back of the classroom merely smiled happily, but on the inside she was jumping for joy.

_'I did it! I passed! Pops and Sayuri are gonna be so happy!'_

_**Hmph, I guess...congratulations are in order... **_Kaori giggled inwardly.

_Thanks...BAKANEKO! _She grinned triumphantly as she repeated her nickname for the "mighty" Monster Cat.

A loud hiss rang in her ears. **_You little brat! I told you not to call me that!_**

"Alright, now for the formation of teams." The jonin's voice interrupted Kaori's inner conversation. "First up, Team 1..." The team assigning dragged on and on, leaving a very irritated Kaori as each team was formed. "Team 10. Kaori Subaki, Eri Nuka..." Kaori headdesked loudly, "Ow." "And Ichiba Kaizen." Kaori's head shot up. _'Who the hell is Ichiba? I've never heard his name before.'_

"All teams will meet with their team leader immediately. Dismissed." The jonin disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the newly formed teams and a group of eager jonin. As the jonin called out for their assigned team, Kaori bumped into someone. Unfortunately for her, it was her teammate Eri. _'Dammit!'_

Eri simply brushed off her shoulder as if she'd touched something dirty. Over the last two years, Eri had grown about two inches and had cut her long black hair, putting it up into two side pigtails. She wore thick black eyeliner, which made no sense to Kaori, seeing as they wouldn't have much time for personal beauty once they started on missions. "Hey there Kaori, still a loser as always?" Yep. She was still the same annoying, whiny girl from before, but the blonde had to hand it to her, she was prettier and a _little_ bit smarter. _'Of all the girls I just had to get _her_on my team. Kami she's like the Queen of Drama.'_

Kaori just shrugged. "I don't know. You still got that pole shoved up your ass?" Oh the expression on her face was priceless. Too bad it was ruined by the girl's quick recovery. "Ah that just proves my point. You're still as childish as ever." The blonde Jinchuriki took in the blackette's I'm-so-smart-and-hot-and-you're-not pose. She wore a black tank top with a green mesh undershirt. She had a pair of baggy black pants with her kunai holder wrapped around her right leg. On her left arm she wore a green ribbon and green wrist protectors. Her sandals were navy blue, and her toenails were painted black. Pretty obvious what her favorite color scheme was.

Suddenly, a white-haired boy walked over to them, his midnight blue eyes analyzing them both. "Hello. Are you two Kaori Sabaki and Eri Nuka?" His voice was mild but had a sort of silky edge to it. "Yeah. I'm Kaori and that lil' ditz over there is Eri." He nodded and a barely noticeable smirk appeared on his lips. He was quite tall for his age, towering over the girls at a good 5"3 inches. His white hair was cut close to his head and was spiked a bit, with two strands hanging above his forehead and he had two silver piercings in each ear. He wore a blue short-sleeved high-collar jacket with a grey shirt underneath. His white cargo shorts were knee-length and had a paw print charm hanging from one of the belt loops. His sandals were also navy blue and he wore black fishnet elbow protectors.

"Well, I can see this is gonna be pretty interesting." Ichiba chuckled. "Team 10. Where is Kaori Subaki, Ichiba Kaizen, and Eri Nuka?" A tall woman was standing in the front of the classroom, a sheet of paper in her delicate hands.

The trio approached their future team leader and repeated their names respectively. The woman smirked. "Well you three _look_ interesting, but let's see how interesting you _really_ are." The three genin looked at each other in confusion. "Meet me at training ground 10..." All three looked genuinely excited, all thinking they were going to start training immediately. "...In two minutes." That made them all do a dramatic jaw drop.

_'Is she insane? We can't possibly get there in less than two minutes! It's impossible!' _Eri looked at her future sensei as if she were a madwoman.

Ichiba's eyebrow twitched. _'Is this woman for real? There's no way us genin can make it to that training ground in time! Hell, it's the farthest one from the Academy!'_

Kaori hissed under breath, fighting the urge to bare her teeth at the woman. _'What the hell is she trying to pull? She knows as much as we do that we can't possibly make that time. Unless...'_ Suddenly a plan began forming in her mind.

The female jonin smirked, "hope you three make it. 'Cause I don't train those who fail." That little statement just continued to shock and piss off the three genin standing before her, and she loved it. _'Let's see if they figure it out.' _She raised her hand in the air, "ready? Set? GO!" The woman disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the three stunned and angry.

"What the heck is her deal? Doesn't she know this is impossible?" Eri ranted. Kaori slapped her hand over the girl's mouth impatiently. "Listen, I've got an idea. But we're going to need to work _together_ in order for it to work" Ichiba listened intently as did Eri who, as far as he could tell, was actually concerned about failing.

Kaori held out her fist, a devious smirk on her face. "Ready?" Eri and Ichiba mirrored the blonde's smirk and bumped their fists with hers. "Let's go."

The trio of Team 10 stood upon the roof of the academy, determination radiating off them. Eri and Ichiba looked to Kaori who had her eyes closed as she concentrated. She was gathering her chakra, but in order for this to work, she needed to borrow some extra.

_Hey Bakaneko, I need to borrow some of your chakra._

There was a low growl. **Grrr...alright whatever. You better not lose this challenge.**

Kaori made a face. _Don't worry Bakaneko, with your extra chakra we'll be at the training grounds before that woman can even smirk._

She was pretty sure the cat had rolled it's eyes at her.

When she opened her eyes, her teammates noticed that her eyes had changed color. Her right eye was yellow and her left was green. They also noticed that her pupils were now slits, similar to a cat. The blonde Jinchuriki flew threw some hand signs, the extra demon chakra swirling around her.

**"Transformation Jutsu!"**

A large cloud of dust obscured the entire building, before quickly dissipating and revealing the blonde Jinchuriki's true plan. Standing on the roof of the Academy stood Kaori transformed into the Two Tails itself. On her head sat Eri and Ichiba, both looking quite surprised but also eager to prove their future sensei wrong. With a deafening roar the Monster Cat leaped off onto the ground and became a large blue blur.

The woman from earlier stood on top of a pine tree, arms crossed in a bored sort of way. Her mid-length bluish-black hair lightly swayed with the breeze, the tree she rested on leaning ever so slightly to the left. She glanced at her watch and smirked. _'I bet those three aren't even halfway here-' _Suddenly a large blue mass came flying at the tree, causing the woman to leap five trees away. She panted a bit from the sudden sprint and looked towards the large cloud of dust floating where the blue...thing had stopped.

_'What the hell was that?'_

Fear froze the woman in place as the dust cleared, revealing what had almost killed her. Standing before her was the Two Tailed Monster Cat, it's two tails twitching about dangerously, it's white fangs gleaming in the sun. It's body was a mass of rolling blue flames, it's eyes two different colors and blank. _'No...it can't be...the Two Tails must have overpowered it's jailor...'_ Then it turned towards her; it's eyes locking with her own as it uttered a low snarl. It slowly stalked towards the woman and stopped a few feet away.

The woman gritted her teeth in anger, anger that she was going to be killed by a stupid cat demon. That's when she noticed it. Two small forms sitting atop the beasts' head. She squinted to try and get a better look, but the beasts' eyes suddenly filed her vision. She fell back with a yelp and the cat began to make a rumbling noise that sounded like...purring? _'What the hell is going on?' _The two figures jumped off the beast and landed in front of the startled woman, both of them wearing cocky smirks on their faces.

"Eri? Ichiba? B-But how...How d-did you two..." She was amazed, she'd never had a stuttering problem before.

Eri spoke up first. "Hey there sensei. So, you ready to start our training?" Ichiba grinned again and chuckled. "What's the matter sensei? You look like you've seen a ghost."

The dark-haired woman looked at the two genin with her mouth open in a big 'O'. _'What the hell is going on? Why-how were they riding that-that thing?' _As if reading her mind Ichiba gave the Two Tails a sidelong glance and called out. "Great job Neko-chan. I think your little plan just won us the challenge." The jonin watched wide-eyed as the beast let out a growl and with a big 'poof' a blonde-haired girl stood in its place. The blonde leaped onto the tree nearest the white-haired boy and gave him a good smack in the head. "Ow! What was that for?" The girl scoffed. "For calling me catgirl." Ichiba laughed and gave her a playful wink. "Aw c'mon you know you like it." Aqua eyes looked the other way as she muttered something about only he and Eri being the only ones to call her that.

"K-Kaori? W-What happened to you?" Ok, this stuttering was really getting on the older woman's nerves.

Kaori gave the woman a strange look. "What do you mean? Are you talking about the transformation jutsu I dispelled just now?"

_'A transformation jutsu? That's what that'd been? But...it seemed so real.'_ She shook her head. _'Of course it looked like the real thing, that's the point of a transformation jutsu.' _A cough brought the woman out of her self-scolding session and she looked at the three with a gleam in her eyes. "Well, it seems you three have passed my test. You are the second team of mine who's ever beaten my test. Congratulations." The genin smiled and then Eri spoke up. "Only the second? Who was the first?" The dark-haired jonin was hoping not to have to answer, but she thought her new team should know.

She let out a sigh. "The first happened to be my very first assigned team. I hadn't been a chunin for long, but due to my amazing intellect and strategizing skills, Lord Moto thought it best if I were promoted to jonin." She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them to look up at a stray cloud. "They surprised me, the moment I saw them they looked like a bunch of goofballs. It's funny, they must have had famous shinobi as their parents, because they all knew the teleportation jutsu my fellow jonin use." She locked eyes with each of her new students. "But, they managed to arrive a few seconds before the two minute mark. You three." She pointed at each of them. "Managed to arrive only a second after the one minute mark."

She watched with an amused smirk on her face as the trio exchanged high fives. Then came the question she dreaded the most. "So...are they like, really famous shinobi now?" It was a perfectly innocent question, just really painful for their sensei. She sighed deeply, her eyes downcast. "...Unfortunately, my team was ambushed on a B-ranked mission...and terminated."

Dead silence. Then the sound of clenched fists and...growling? The woman looked up to see Eri's fists clenched tightly, her knuckles pure white from the extreme pressure, her hair bristling. Ichiba's teeth were clenched tightly and his eyes were narrowed, he seemed to be clenching something on his belt loop in a vice-like grip. Kaori's canines were visible as she mirrored Ichiba. She clutched her left arm tightly, her nails cutting into the skin threatening to draw blood. Her students' reactions surprised her greatly. These three didn't even know her first team, yet they were reacting towards their deaths as if they had known them their whole lives.

Ichiba spoke first, his voice coming out clipped and edgy. "Excuse us sensei, it's just..."

"We've all lost someone close to us from missions." Eri finished.

Kaori remained silent as she fought to restrain the forbidden tears. Finally she managed to choke out the words. "I...lost my father on a mission. I was only 1 and he was snatched away from me...just like that..." She scolded herself for sounding weak. _'Don't you dare cry Kaori. It's against the law of the shinobi to cry.'_ Ichiba put his hand on her shoulder, releasing the charm on his pants. He didn't look at his sensei as he confessed too. "I lost my older brother to an ambush...it was set up by one of his own teammates..." His grip on the blonde's shoulder tightened. "I swore to myself that I wouldn't take revenge on the man who betrayed my brother...but...sometimes it's really hard not to." Eri joined the duo, standing on Kaori's left, her hand finding its way to the blonde's shoulder as well. "My...my mother and older sister were killed on an S-ranked mission...I found out later that...that my sister had been pregnant..." The blackette couldn't continue, the pain was too much.

For the second time in her entire life, Ryo Miyoko felt a huge ball of sadness and despair well up inside her. This was her fifth team since she became a jonin and already these children had experienced the pain of losing someone precious to them. _'No child should ever have to go through that, especially before they even became ninja.'_

Ichiba's heart throbbed as he tried desperately to not cry as the memories of that day came rushing back. _'C'mon you wimp! You can't cry! Not in front of your sensei! Not in front of Kaori...' _Ok he'd admit it. He'd developed a crush on the blonde Jinchuriki, he couldn't help it. From an early age he'd thought he'd rather live his life as a bachelor, never really settling with a girl. Afraid that if he did something would go wrong and he'd end up feeling the pain all over again. A single tear escaped his eyes, dropping to the forest floor unnoticed. _'I...don't want her to think I'm weak. I want her to know that I'm strong, that I'm the one she can go to when she's hurt or sad...' _He suddenly got the feeling he was being watched by someone other than his sensei. He slowly opened his eyes to meet two glistening pools of aquamarine, his feelings reflecting in hers. "Ichiba..." Her angelic voice drifted off, panic rising through him. _'Oh no! Did she see me cry?' _As if reading his thoughts the blonde gave him a small smile. "It's ok. You aren't weak." Her voice was barely a whisper, almost lost with the breeze. He didn't seem convinced so she finally let one tear fall, just as he'd done. "See, I cried too." He looked at her with a bit of disbelief; she'd just broken a strict code to make him feel better. She whispered again, "We're only human...it's in our nature to cry when we're sad." She paused. "But...we've already cried over their deaths. They wouldn't want us to cry anymore...to feel sad." He nodded slowly, wanting desperately to embrace her, to wipe away her tears and for her to do the same with him.

Eri had long since joined her sensei's side, her being the only one to not shed a tear. _'Those two...their pain seems to be the same.' _The black-haired genin felt a pang of sadness in her chest. _'I've been awful to Kaori over the years, treating her like she was the demon. But really she's the village's true hero. If she were to die or be killed...we'd all go down with her.' _A warm hand on the girl's shoulder made her look up, her eyes meeting calm hazel orbs. "You ok? You lost two loved ones, including your unborn nephew/niece. You seem to be taking it well." She sighed. "Well...my father he...he cast an emotional restraint jutsu on me about two months after the incident." Her sensei's eyes widened. "What? He did that? That's not right..." "No! You don't understand. He did it for my own good. I...I was cutting myself and couldn't stop thinking about committing suicide..." She stopped talking her hands hovering over her arms where scars once lay. Ryo looked up at the sky, the sun temporarily blotted out by a large cloud. _'It seems as if I will have to train them in much more than just the ways of a ninja.'_

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><p><em>Three days later-Leaf Village<em>

**"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

A large puff of smoke erupted from the air revealing about 20 perfect replicas of Naruto. He panted heavily as he began to feel the tug of exhaustion on his body. He gritted his teeth and solidified his stubborn will. _'I'm not gonna stop, not yet. I've only made 40 shadow clones so far! I gotta keep trying...' _The blonde dispelled the clones and repeated the jutsu once more. This time he managed to create 25 clones, but that wasn't enough for the knuckleheaded ninja.

Meanwhile, Sakura watched with her sensei Kakashi as Naruto pushed himself to the limit. Again. She sighed, he'd been practicing his shadow clone technique for the past three days since they'd become Team 7. Both their wishes had come true, they'd been placed on the same team. The one drawback was their third teammate; Sasuke Uchiha. Already she began to wonder how she ever used to chase after him.

**_It's because we thought we loved him...but we were wrong. _**

_I know, I just wish I'd seen it a little earlier. Remember how hurt Naruto-kun looked every time I tried talking to him?_

Her inner frowned, depressed. **_Yeah, he looked as if we'd beaten him or something._**

Sakura nodded. _Maybe we did. Maybe he thought we'd leave him for Sasuke._

Her inner merely shrugged.

"Sakura is something wrong? You seem a little distracted." Kakashi looked at his pink-haired student warily. She'd been looking really off today, especially whenever Naruto was training. She jumped a bit, surprised by her sensei's question. She rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Oh no I'm fine...really." The white-haired nin shrugged and turned his attention to his other student. _'That kid seems pretty determined. Sometimes I wonder how he's managed to remain standing. Most genin would've passed out from chakra exhaustion by now.' _He watched for a few more minutes before a low voice interrupted him.

"That idiots going to kill himself. Why doesn't he just give up?" And cue the insults. "I don't know why he does this everyday. The dobe's never going to make it to chunin-"

**SMACK!**

Kakashi watched as the Uchiha's head snapped to the left, looking almost like he'd snapped his neck. "You shut up." The pinkette's eyes burned with rage, her hand still extended from the hard smack she gave the boy. "Naruto is going to be the Hokage someday, that's why he trains so hard." Two cold onyx eyes pierced through her but the girl wasn't fazed.

"So what are you his little girlfriend?" Sasuke's cold stare never faltered. He snorted, "Oh sorry, I meant to say bit-" "Sasuke! Return home at once, I do not want to see you at this training field for the rest of the day." The dark-haired prodigy merely sneered at his sensei as he slunk off into the trees. Kakashi was still stunned, he'd never heard another teammate say such things to their comrade. He looked at his female student, "sorry about that Sakura. You ok?" The girl surprised him, he assumed she would be close to tears, but instead she was watching Naruto again, her eyes dry. "I'm fine Kakashi-sensei, I won't let Sasuke's words get to me. I don't care what he thinks." Then she added in a murmur. "I'm not like that anymore."

Two hours later Naruto lay passed out in the middle of the field, his body completely shut down from chakra exhaustion. Sakura sat on her knees next to him as she patiently waited for him to come to. "Baka." The sound of approaching footsteps alerted the girl and she looked up only to meet her sensei. "Oh hey there Kakashi-sensei, Naruto 's body finally gave out." Her sensei smiled under his mask, "well it's about time. You can head home now Sakura, I'll take Naruto home-" "Wait. Can I stay here till he wakes up?" Kakashi's eye widened in surprise then crinkled in amusement. "Alright suit yourself." He turned in the opposite direction. "Oh and don't forget training tomorrow, same time same place." She nodded and watched as he sent a friendly wave over his shoulder before disappearing over the hill.

Sakura returned her attention to the golden beauty before her. The setting sun seemed to be shining brighter on where they sat than anywhere else in the field. The boy's golden hair seemed to glow even brighter, seeming to form a sort of halo around his head. Sakura suddenly noticed how peaceful his face looked, his whisker markings looking almost real. Sakura laughed at herself. _'Listen to yourself you know those aren't real. Still...'_

_**I wonder what they feel like? **_Once again her inner decided to voice her own weird thoughts.

_Yeah...I wonder... _

The pinkette didn't realize she was gently stroking Naruto's whiskered cheek, her thumb smoothing over each one slowly. She closed her eyes for a moment, simply enjoying the peaceful silence and the feel of her teammates skin. After a few moments Sakura's mind began wondering about whether his head was comfortable on the hard ground, or whether his neck might become stiff from the act of staying in one position for a long period of time.

Sakura took her time as she carefully sat herself behind Naruto's head, her movements so smooth and quiet not even the most skilled jonin would have heard her. Gently, she picked up the blonde's head and placed it in her lap, her face breaking out into a loving smile. Her long pink tresses fell softly around her face as she peered closer to study him more closely. She took in every feature from his perfectly shaped nose to his whiskered cheeks, his mouth, but especially his golden, spiky hair. She began running her fingers through it slowly, the hair feeling like silk between her fingers. She closed her eyes and hummed a random melody softly, the rest of the world slowly drifting away, leaving only her and Naruto. After awhile her fingers began subconsciously massaging the blonde's scalp, causing the sleeping Naruto to smile in his sleep. Then she heard it; a soft and calming sound, coming from the boy's throat. Sakura curiously leaned her ear closer to his head and was finally able to identify it. Naruto was purring. It gave the pinkette butterflies in her stomach knowing that she was the one responsible for the pleasing sound coming from the blonde's throat.

**_Awww! I just want to cuddle him and kiss him and-_**

_Wait what? Did you just say…kiss?_

Her inner snorted. **_Yeah, I…I guess I did. I know you want to, I can see it._**

Sakura looked almost mortified. _No way! That's not true!_

_**Oh really, then how come you haven't backed away from his face yet hmmm?**_

Now she was in trouble. Her inner was right…again. _'Crap.' _It was true, Sakura hadn't moved since she discovered the purring sound, her face inches away from his. A deep blush set in. "Oh Naruto…" The pink-haired girl began questioning how this knucklehead managed to make her feel this way. She could still painfully remember before they'd become friends. She shuddered. _'I'll never treat Naruto like that again. I just hope he's forgiven me…' _Just at that moment Sakura realized just how much she wanted to kiss the baka. She worked carefully as she gently slid off his headband, setting it on the ground with such care you'd think it'd shatter if dropped. Her jade-eyes looked at his face for a moment and then closed as she lowered her lips to his forehead. She kept her lips there for a few moments before reluctantly pulling back, his scent filling her nostrils. The girl sighed in bliss and it was then that two azure orbs slowly opened, Sakura being the first thing he saw.

_'Is that…Sakura-chan? What's she doing here? In fact…what am I doing here?'_

_**You were training, remember? You kept making shadow clones until you passed out.**_

_'Oh yeah…now I remember. But…what the heck is Sakura-chan doing here then?_

The Kyuubi chuckled. **_She's been looking after you ever since you passed out. Hehe…and she found your tender spot Kit._**

_'What are you talking about furball?'_

_**I'm talking about your head. She was petting your head not long ago and you instantly began purring. It was hilarious!**_

_'Wait…so that's what made me feel so good while I was asleep? I thought it was just 'casue I was tired.'_

_**Kit, that vixen's got her eye on you, I can tell.**_

_'Whoa. Are you sure?'_

The fox chuckled. **_Positive. Oh if only you could have seen how she looked at you. Hehe oh and let's not forget about that kiss…_**

"Naruto? Are you awake?" Man he would never get tired of that voice. He blinked a couple times before looking up at his teammate. "Yep." She smiled. "That's good, now would you mind sitting up please? My legs fell asleep." He smiled sheepishly and quickly stood up, his hand brushing across the back of his head nervously. "Uh…sorry Sakura-chan. I was-hey where's my headband?" The blonde looked around and noticed it sitting neatly near Sakura's feet. "Oh sorry, I uh…took it off. I thought it might've been on too tight." By now the poor girl's face was rivaling her hair color. She handed it to him and watched as he tied it back across his forehead.

By now the sunset was beginning to disappear and stars were becoming visible. The two were silent for a moment before loud rumbling sounded. Naruto grabbed his stomach, "ohhh I forgot how hungry training makes me." He whined. Sakura giggled and then blushed as her stomach did the same. "Umm…Sakura-chan. Would you like to go to Ichiraku's with me?" He sounded a little nervous, due to the fact that before Sakura would've yelled in his face and hit him. "I'd love to Naruto." He grinned his fox-like grin as he strode off, but not before Sakura managed to lace her hand with his, making both genin blush. "Hey Naruto." "Hm?" She looked up at the sky. "Will you teach me that shadow clone jutsu tomorrow?" He smiled, "of course! I'd do anything for you Sakura-chan!" Suddenly realizing what he'd just said, the blonde quickly shut up as they slowly headed for Naruto's favorite ramen stand.

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><p>Alright what you guys think? Leave me a review and a reward awaits you down a sparkly trail. x3 Oh and if you're wondering in my story Sakura drops the -kun on Naruto's name after their become Team 7. I like it that way.<p>

Oh and Kaori's nickname for the Two Tails is Bakaneko which is supposed to mean Stupid Cat or Dumb Cat. I basically switched the 'e' in Bakeneko with an 'a'. ^^

Any questions, suggestions are welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters. All I own are the characters I created for the story and my OC. **

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><p>Ayame handed the take out bag to the man behind the counter. "Here you go. Hope you enjoy." The customer handed her the money with a smile and left. A familiar voice began to drift into the restaurant making Ayame smile. "I'm telling ya Sakura-chan, Ichiraku's is the best place to get ramen, believe it!" A moment later Naruto and Sakura entered the restaurant, both their stomachs growling <em>very<em> loudly.

"Hey there Naruto! Oh I see you brought a friend." Ayame looked at Sakura. "And a girl no less, good for you!" The young woman giggled at the two genin's flushed faces.

Naruto shakily picked up a menu and handed it to Sakura. "They've got a lot of different ramen here, but I recommend the miso with pork." After a few more moments of scanning the menu Sakura decided to have the same as Naruto, who thought it was great, until she mentioned never having ramen before. Big mistake.

"WHAAT?" Yelled the blonde rather loudly. "YOU'VE NEVER HAD RAMEN BEFORE?" The way he shouted it you'd think it was a crime or something, well maybe in Naruto's world it is.

Sakura sweat dropped. "Um...no...I've never had it before. Sorry if...it offends you..." The poor pinkette was so confused. Naruto instantly calmed down, his eyes softening as he just looked at her. He took in her confused expression, the way her head tilted to the side reminding him of a curious fox he'd seen once in the woods. He nearly lost himself in her wide jade pools, the smell of cooking ramen becoming his safety reel back to reality.

He blushed as he shook his head and looked back behind the counter. "Hey Ayame where's your old man?" The girl glanced over her shoulder. "He went off for a quick break, but he should be back shortly." She returned her attention to the simmering noodles, making sure to keep one ear open on Naruto and Sakura's conversation, or as Ayame liked to call it, their date. The two genin sat quietly, not sure what to say at the moment. Suddenly Naruto reached over and grabbed a pair of chopsticks and stuck them into the inside of his upper lip. He growled and bared his "fangs" at his teammate, who seemed about to burst into fits of laughter. She grinned, mimicking Naruto's fox grin, and grabbed herself a pair of chopsticks. Sakura held them atop her head like they were horns and bent her head as she playfully tried to poke the blonde "beast" in front of her.

"Grrr...I'm gonna eat your bones." Naruto growled, his "fangs" twitching weirdly as he spoke. Sakura snorted, "not before I poke your eyes out." They playfully poked and prodded each other until their guts were sore from laughing so much. "Hahaha thanks Naruto. I really needed that." The blonde wiped tears from his eyes and chuckled again. "No problem Sakura-chan, glad I could help." She smiled sweetly. "You know Naruto, I've never heard you laugh like that before." Her innocent curiosity was melting the poor blonde into a puddle of mush.

**_Oh this is quite amusing. It's like watching that television thing you humans use._**

_What the? Hey! Quit barging in!_

The Kyuubi grinned. **_Oh I'm sorry, were you two having a moment?_**

_Gah! O-Of course not! We were just...ah..um..._

_**Hahaha! Oh Kit you are too much! I've never felt so entertained before, not even by your petty pranks. It must be that pink vixen of yours.**_

_Hey! Don't talk about Sakura like she's an object! She's a person with feelings and the right to choose who she lo- _Naruto quickly stopped that thought, trying desperately to block out the Nine Tail's roars of laughter.

Sakura leaned forward, her hands supporting her weight as she stared deep inside those orbs of sapphire. At first she'd seen her own reflection in his eyes, but then she began to look deeper and could've swore she saw something in his eye. It looked like a glint of light, a small spark, but it quickly disappeared and she found herself in a very complicated position. Naruto stared at her in surprise and Sakura blushed as she suddenly realized just how close she was leaning forward. "I...um...sorry. Didn't mean to get in your face or anything." The whiskered boy smirked and bonked the pinkette softly on the head, her eyes instinctively closing, her nose wrinkling cutely.

Meanwhile, Teuchi returned from his break unnoticed by the genin. He opened his mouth to greet his favorite customer when a small hand slapped over it. Ayame gave him a stern look and gestured towards the two children, making a heart symbol out of her hand. Teuchi smiled broadly and quietly set to finishing the couple's order. "Here you go, one bowl of miso with pork for the lady and one for the gentleman." He placed the steaming bowls on the counter and watched as Sakura's eyes widened at her first bite. Then she did something very unexpected, she blurted out loudly. "Oh my gosh this is amazing! It's the best thing I've ever tasted!" How very un-Sakura like.

Naruto's reaction was simply adorable. He sat still, his eyes widened and his hands frozen in the air, a string of noodles hanging from the chopsticks and some from his mouth, which was stuffed with ramen. One lone noodle hung from the corner of his mouth making Ayame burst with laughter. "Hahaha, hey Sakura I think you should do that more often just so we can watch his reaction." She said gesturing towards the blonde. "Hm?" The pink-haired girl had been completely oblivious to the blonde's actions. She giggled and blushed embarrassed. "Sorry I just couldn't help it. I mean this is just amazing!" Teuchi grinned. "Oh that's alright, Naruto was the same when he first came in here. Of course he was _much _louder."

The duo finally left the restaurant after Naruto's fifth bowl and Sakura's third. By now the moon was high in the night sky, giving the now quiet city a magical look. Naruto glanced in Sakura's direction and noticed how her eyes seemed to shine so much more now, but was it because of the moon or something else. He returned his gaze to the star-lit sky, his hands locked behind his head. "Hey...Naruto. Can I ask you something?" He smiled at her. "Of course Sakura-chan." She sighed. "Well...what do you think of me?"

He didn't falter, although his confusion was clear on his face. "What do you mean Sakura-chan?" "I mean what do you like about my personality. What makes you want to be my friend, even after all those times I hurt you?" He paused to think and looked up at the sky. "Well, I like how smart you are. You could beat me at a puzzle without even trying!" She giggled a little at his joke. "I also like how nice you can really be, you aren't some crazy, angry-all-the-time girl. You just use your anger to hide your true feelings sometimes." She flinched, how had he figured that out? "Your funny and a great friend and teammate. You have a strong will and will become a great ninja one day, believe it." She blushed and held a hand over her heart. Then he chuckled, "I guess I like everything about you Sakura-chan. I can't find a single thing I'd change." Shocked eyes met his as she stared at him, mouth open. "You mean that? Y-you wouldn't?" He laughed again, making Sakura fall for him even harder. He nodded and she flung her arms around his neck, nearly knocking him to the ground in the process.

"Oof! What was that for?" She bopped him on the head and then placed a chaste kiss on his nose. "Baka."

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><p><em>Same night-Kaori<em>

_'It's a full moon tonight. I never noticed how much bigger it is." _The blonde Jinchuriki lay in the field that made up Team 10's training grounds. She shivered as a cool night breeze brushed her skin. She winced a bit as she sat up, her muscles still sore from her team's training earlier. _'Man Ryo-sensei sure does push us hard, but I guess it'll end up coming in handy later on.' _Kaori smirked as she ran over the whole two-hour training session.

_Flashback_

_Team 10 stood in training ground G10, their sensei firmly facing them. "All right listen up! I don't tolerate slacking off, so don't even try it.' No response. "Anyway, from now on training will be every day, starting from 8:00 to 10:00. Once we get farther along with your training the sessions will become longer and more demanding." She smirked. "Oh and you'll be _very_sore the next couple of days, at least until your muscles become accustomed to all the training." The three genin didn't even flinch as they stared back at their teacher with determined eyes, each wanting to prove something. 'So, first we're going to meditate-"_

_"Meditate? What kind of training is that?" Ryo kept smirking. "Well Eri, unless you wish to die performing your first jutsu I suggest you listen. Meditation helps the user to connect with their chakra flow and become accustomed to it." A pause. "Chakra control is critically important, it could mean the difference between life and death." Eri nodded, a little embarrassed by her outburst._

_"Now while meditating you will balance a leaf on your head, if it falls off you must start again. And by that I mean disconnect yourself from meditating and start over." Now the children began to look a bit nervous. Ichiba raised his hand, a habit from years of academy life. "Excuse me sensei but...how are we supposed to balance a leaf with all this wind?"_

_"Ah good question Ichiba. You're actually the first of any team of mine to have asked that question." She held up a finger. "The first step as I said is to put yourself into a meditative state. Once there I will place the leaf atop your heads. Your job is to use your chakra and direct it to the leaf by using your chakra network." "Ok, makes enough sense. So our chakra will hold it down on our heads..." Kaori cut in. "Which will require our focus to be divided, one part focused on pushing the chakra into the leaf and the other focused on holding the leaf down." Their sensei smiled as she nodded her head approvingly. "Good. Now I want all three of you to sit underneath this tree here and begin. Remember the steps." And then she added, "be patient and take your time, relax."_

_End Flashback_

Kaori sat with one knee propping up her arm, the other stuck out straight on the grass. The cool night air kissing her skin gently. "I don't think I'll ever understand that leaf thing of hers, but if it's going to help me be stronger then I'll do it." She glanced at the village, her bangs getting in the way.

"You know most people stay inside at night." A voice emerged from the darkness. Kaori spun her head around and instantly recognized her teammates. She rolled her eyes. "Gee thanks Eri." The blackette shrugged and sat on the blonde's right, drawing her knees up to her chest. "Hey don't ignore me, I came too!" Ichiba whined as he sat cross-legged on the grass. His blonde teammate looked over at him, "like anyone could ignore you Ichi." That was what the girls decided to call him, the only time they said his full name was around their sensei or other nin. He thought it was kind of cute...that is until he began thinking it was his pet name or something.

"So you guys ready for some more leaf balancing?" Eri said as she twisted a blade of grass between her fingers. Kaori shrugged. "Well I just hope we all get it tomorrow. It'd really suck if we'd have to go through _that _again." Ichiba shivered at the memory.

After about an hour of unsuccessfully balancing their leaves, Ryo-sensei had them lug huge boulders up and down a steep hill without using their chakra. It had been painful, almost snapping Eri's back in two and twisting Kaori's ankle. Ichiba had been the lucky one. Although he wasn't the strongest one on their team, his height and long legs made his trips up and down much shorter and quicker. However, even with an injury Kaori had pushed herself to keep walking, Eri close behind her. For some reason the two girls seemed to want to prove something, but neither he nor their sensei knew what. Another 30 minutes later, the girls had only one boulder left. Despite Eri now having multiple pulled muscles and Kaori's twisted ankle _and_ wrist, both girls pulled through the pain until they'd made it to the top. At the top they dropped their boulders, exchanged happy smiles, and then collapsed from exhaustion and extreme pain.

Ryo-sensei took them to the hospital where they were quickly treated and ready for more. "No," she'd told them, explaining that their exhaustion would only cause further injuries and sickness. After a few moments of arguing his teammates finally gave up and went home, leaving him with the rest of the day to himself.

"Ugh I do _not _want to go through that again!" Eri groaned and Kaori shook her head. "Yeah but if we do have to do it then we'll do exactly what we did last time. We'll keep going until the very last boulder sits on that hill." Ichiba stared in wonderment at his crush. _'Man does she even think about her health? She could get herself killed, Eri included.' _The blackette stood up and cracked her back loudly. "Ohhh that felt _so_ _good." _The blonde Jinchuriki shook her head disapprovingly. Ichiba just sweat dropped. "Well I think it's time to head home guys. We don't need our parents fussing over us." The two girls nodded and slipped off into the night followed by their male teammate.

Eri arrived at her house, or should she say apartment. Since she lived with her father who was a civilian, he didn't make much money, which meant they had to settle for less. "Dad! I'm home!" A faint grunt from the living room was his reply. The black-haired genin took off her shoes and placed them by the door before entering her living room/kitchen. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her father, sitting on the couch with a huge bottle of sake in his hand. "Dad?" She asked warily, she had to be careful, if he was really drunk he might do something unexpected. He slowly turned his face towards her, his eyes glazed from the heavy alcohol, his cheeks flushing red, another affect of the drink.

He gave her a lopsided smirk then gurgled, "well hey there cutie. What's a pretty piece like you doin' here?" His voice was slurred and his head bobbed to the side drunkenly. She sighed and crossed her arms. "Dad it's me, your daughter Eri. Now where did you get the drink?" Confusion crossed his face before it lit up in realization. "Oh heeeyyy, my buds came overrr and we had a party..." His voice trailed off as he took another swig of sake. Eri stamped her foot angrily. "You did what? Dammit dad I told you not to let them come over! You remember what almost happened last time right?" Unfortunately for her the man was too drunk and had already forgotten her presence in the room. She growled and stormed off to her room, but not before stopping in front of her father's room. _'That's strange, he never leaves his door open...'_

Eri entered the room and nearly screamed in shock. Lying in her father's bed was a man and a woman, both completely naked and lying in the position that suggested something had been going on earlier. She backed quietly out of the room and into her own and plopped gracelessly onto the bed. The black-haired girl stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes, her face devoid of any emotion. A glint from her dresser caught her attention and she slowly got up, already knowing what it was. Eri fingered the handle, her fingers brushing over the cool blade. That blade had once cut her skin so many times, relieving all her emotional pain like a river, just like her blood.

_'Should I...I know I had that stupid jutsu dispelled awhile ago but...'_ Her hesitant fingers lingered over the tip of the blade, her heart beating just a little faster. She sat on her windowsill and held the blade over her arm, the need for emotional release overwhelming. "With my blood all the pain will disappear..." She chanted as she ran the blade over her skin, blood slowly seeping out. Eri closed her eyes and continued chanting, all the while running the knife over her soft skin, the blood taking her pain with it to the floor.

The house was quiet as Ichiba entered the kitchen, his stomach hungry for a late-night snack. Just as he was reaching for a glass a swiveling sound broke the silence. He whipped around, his hand instinctively reaching for a kunai. His mother sat in a chair looking at him through questioning eyes. "And just _where_ have _you_ been hm?" She frowned as she noticed his hand had reached for a kunai. The boy sighed exasperatedly, "I was just out with my friends, ok mom?" The woman clenched her fist. "Oh you mean that black-haired witch and the demon wretch?" She examined a nail. "Honestly son I don't understand how they're your friends." Ichiba gritted his teeth angrily, his fist clutching the glass tightly. "Don't you dare say that! They're my friends and teammates and I will **not** listen to you bash them!"

Ever since he'd been assigned to Team 10, his mother had constantly been warning him of his teammates, mainly Kaori. Sometimes she'd even asked him to quit being a ninja! _'What the hell is her problem?' _He wasn't just going to stand around and listen to his mom try and tell him who his friends should be. "Dear listen to me, neither of those girls is going to amount to anything. They both care for no one but themselves and will not even glance your way if you got hurt." Oh his mother was digging herself a _very _deep hole. "Besides they aren't attractive at all. No I won't settle for hideous demon grandkids-"

**CRASH!**

The sound of shattered glass brought the woman out of her lecture. She held in a gasp as she saw her son's bloody hand, tiny glass shards protruding from it. She felt a shiver go down her spine as he gave her a deadly glare. "Don't. You. EVER. Say that again!" He growled. "Got it?" The woman nodded her head and watched as he stomped off to his room, his movements stiff and jerky. She flinched a bit as the sound of a slammed door echoed through the house, but soon began forming explanations for her son's behavior. _'It must be those two brats on his team. They're turning him into a monster...'_

_'Damn this hurts.' _He thought as he painfully removed the glass fragments from his hand. Once done he didn't bother wiping off the blood, instead he sat cross-legged on the bed and let his mind drift off. In a matter of minutes Ichiba had successfully entered a meditational state. Desperately wanting to forget the awful words of his mother swirling in his head.

Kaori stood outside her two-story house, her hand hovering over the doorknob. _'Please let her not be drunk...'_

_**I don't understand your mother's actions. Why does she beat you?**_

_It's complicated Bakaneko. I...she...she blames me for father's death. When I was younger I used to believe it. _Kaori looked down at her feet.

**_It still does not justify her actions. You are her daughter and as such she should treat you with great care._**

Kaori raised an eyebrow. _Since when did you become an expert on family stuff?_

There was a hiss of annoyance. **_Years of constantly being sealed within a child gives a demon great experience in human affairs._**

_Oh...sorry..._

_**What have you to be sorry for? I don't want your pity so forget about it!**_

Kaori tried to reason with the stubborn beast but to no avail. "Ugh what a pain."

Finally the girl opened her front door and stepped inside, making sure to quietly shut the door. The house was pitch dark, not a single lamp or even a candle was lit. "Tch figures." Kaori closed her eyes and called on some of the Two Tails chakra, pushing a small amount into her eyes. She opened them and blinked, her eyes had changed from aqua to green on the left and yellow on the right. Her pupils that had once been big and round were now thin black slits. Her eyes seemed to glow as she realized she could now see. By using the demon cat's chakra the blonde was able to take the first step into fully transforming into the Two Tailed Monster Cat. But she didn't know that, it was a dark secret no one knew except the demon cat herself, and there was no way she'd tell the brat.

Kaori saw no sign of her mother and stopped to try and hear for any sounds.

**_Try pushing some of my chakra into your ears. That should help._**

_How do you know?_

_**Just do it.**_

The young Jinchuriki huffed and obeyed, slowly pushing a small amount of demon chakra into her ears. Instantly she began to feel a tugging on her ears and then they began to itch like crazy. "What the?" She walked over to a mirror on the wall and gasped. Her human ears were completely gone and in their place were a pair of blue cat ears with black markings. The really weird thing was the fact that they were in the same spot as her human ears, not on top of her head.

_Hey! Bakaneko! What the hell happened to my ears?_

The cat snorted. **_Well it seems by pushing my chakra into them they've taken on the form of my ears. Interesting._**

Kaori growled. _No it's not interesting! It's freaking me out! How the heck am I going to ex-wait a second. I hear something..._

The blonde perked her new ears towards the faint sound, her new hearing coming in handy. From upstairs she could hear a moaning sound, deep and primal. "The hell?" Kaori followed the sound, her new ears twitching, as she slowly crept up the stairs. She was grateful that her stairs didn't squeak. Then she heard it again, a deep moaning sound coming from...her mom's room?

The blonde Jinchuriki stalked through the hallway on silent feet, her body pressed against the wall, the full moon casting an eerie glow on the young girl's face. The moaning soon grew more intense and another sound joined it, laughter. _'That's my mom's laugh, what the hell is she doing? She's drunk obviously but something else is going on' _Finally she reached her mom's room, the door was shut and barely any light peaked out from under the door crack. However the moaning and laughing continued, Kaori bared her teeth at the sound, the reason unknown to her. Slowly, cautiously, she turned the doorknob and eased the door open. She bit her lip nervously as the door opened more, almost afraid of what she'd find.

Her mom's giant window provided enough light to illuminate most of the room and reveal the sources of moaning and laughter. Her mother sat on her bed in only her bra and panties, her bra straps falling off her shoulders. The woman's hair was tousled and resembled near perfect bed-head while her cheeks were tinted red and her eyes glazed over from the alcohol. In one hand she held an unlit cigarette and in the other she held a large bottle of sake. Behind her sat a man with what appeared to be silver hair that spiked in the front and curled up in the back. He wore only his black boxers and a gold chain around his neck. The man was kissing her mom's neck, occasionally sucking on the skin making the woman giggle drunkenly. Both his hand roamed around her middle, one occasionally tickling her naval while the other fondled her breasts.

To say this whole scene disturbed Kaori would be a _huge _understatement. As she watched her mother simply allow the strange man to touch her, Kaori felt her anger coming to a boil. Normally the blonde was very careful with how angry she got, because if she went over the edge the Two Tails would use her anger as a gateway to breaking out. However this was different, watching her mother act this way infuriated her. The man was merely extra salt to add to her wounds. Inside a dark monstrous cage, a yellow and green eye peered out from the darkness, a sinister grin spreading across the shadow's face. Kaori felt the sudden surge of chakra, felt her canines and nails grow, felt the sudden murderous instinct taking over her mind. Yet she didn't try to stop or resist it, oh no. This time she was going to embrace the demon's power.

With a primal roar Kaori launched herself at the man, claw-like nails poised to strike. Both their bodies flew off the bed and onto the wood floor, the man becoming winded from the hard fall. The blonde hissed at the man's terror-stricken face and began scratching him, huge bloody claw marks etching the man's torso. Despite being completely wasted, Kaori's mother let out a terrified scream as she watched the strange creature attack her boyfriend. Thanks to her cat ears the young Jinchuriki was able to hear her mother's terrified screams along with the man's. She did not stop her assault; a red haze filled her vision, her rising bloodlust becoming increasingly visible. At one point the girl bit down hard on the man's shoulders, arms and neck, blood dripping down his body. The intoxicating smell only fueled Kaori's bloodlust, her strikes becoming more and more deadly.

In the very back of her mind Kaori could've swore she heard maniacal laughter, but quickly dismissed it. Right now she had to take care of this foolish human. She never noticed the black markings slowly appearing on her arms, legs, and face. Never noticed that her ears had now moved to the top of her head. By now her claws had reached the man's face, one eye was quickly dispatched, the man's agonizing screams sounded like music to the girl's ears. Soon after she began to feel bored with her prey, the smell of blood had her up in a complete high. Kaori's cat-like eyes locked onto the man's throat, the throbbing of his heartbeat evident by the pulsing vein. With a hungry snarl the blonde latched her inch-long fangs onto the man's throat, a surprised sound squeaking out before his head fell back, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

Kaori's mother watched horrified as the cat creature mercilessly beat up her boyfriend, his blood glistening in the moonlight. Then she saw the beast's head bend near her boyfriends throat and watched his head fall to the floor with a load thud. The woman let out a blood-curling scream and the creature turned towards her, blood smeared around its mouth. "You-you monster! You killed him! You killed him!" Her words only seemed to amuse the creature as a sinister grin broke out on its face. Suddenly the woman burst into tears, her loud sobs making the girl's ears twitch. Kaori's eyes widened as her mind regained control of her body, guilt rising up like a tidal wave about to sweep her up.

The blonde looked down at her hands and noticed they were dripping with blood. That's when she finally noticed the black markings that had ceased their crawling on her arm. _'What-what have I done? What happened to me?' _Her mother buried her face in her hands, tears falling onto her sheets. Taking the opportunity, Kaori scooped up the corpse and hastily leaped out the window. _'Why aren't my teeth and claws returning to normal? And what the heck are these weird markings on my body?' _A few minutes later she came to a large cliff far from the village. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of the dead man, his bloody body making her stomach churn. She whispered an apology before tossing the body over the edge and into the dark abyss. The blonde quickly dashed back to her house, stopping in the kitchen to grab some cleaning supplies. Kaori looked over at her mother's sleeping form, her cheeks stained with tears. Her heart clenched as she remembered having to knock her own mother out. She worked quietly, making sure to leave no trace of the incident.

An hour later Kaori stood in her bathroom as she looked at her reflection. She'd been so busy cleaning up her mom's room she hadn't had time to clean herself up, and what she saw scared her. Her mouth was covered in dried blood along with her hands. Her teeth had returned to normal along with her nails and ears. She had tiny blood splatters on her face, neck and chest, but other than that she was fine. Of course she didn't _feel _fine. No, the blonde felt utterly horrified and disgusted with herself. _'I killed him…' _That's what kept running through her mind over and over. Her grip on the sink tightened as she stared back at her still odd-colored cat eyes.

_Hey Bakaneko, why haven't my eyes returned to normal yet?_

_**Hm I'm not sure. Try releasing the chakra from them.**_

She did as she was told and watched as her eyes slowly regained their aqua color. The blonde took a deep breath. Slowly she turned on the sink and gathered water in her cupped hands. As she splashed her face her tongue rubbed against her lip, the sharp taste of blonde spiking her taste buds. Kaori dashed to the toilet and emptied her stomach, noticing the slight red tint. Once finished she returned to the sink, her eyes looking sunken and dull, her body crying out for sleep. Stumbling to her room, Kaori dragged herself under the covers and began to cry. _'I'm a monster. A monster doesn't deserve to live…'_

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><p>Alright here's chapter 3! Hope you guys like it. I'd also like to put a shout out to this stories number 1 fan: CBUnderoath50! Thanks so much for reviewing my story and I'm very grateful for all the commentary and suggestions you give me as well. :)<p>

Yeah I know Kaori had a bit of a dark moment there but that's how the plots going to work. And with her cat ears and stuff that's how I imagined the process would work with the Two Tails.

Yo all you other peeps leave me a review if you've got the time! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters. All I own are the characters I created for the story and my OC. **

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><p>Team 7 stood near the training grounds, bored, as they awaited their very late sensei. "Ugh, why is he always so late?" Sakura grumbled as she flipped back her long hair annoyingly. Her blond teammate shrugged. Suddenly a silver-haired man appeared in a quick puff of smoke. "Sorry kids. An elderly lady requested my help-" Naruto began to laugh loudly. "Nice try Kakashi-sensei, but you can't fool us!" Kakashi shook his head, defeated. "Alright. Today we're going to practice tree climbing." Sasuke opened one eye in interest. "Tree climbing? That's easy!" The older nin almost chuckled. "What about not using your hands?" The blonde seemed visibly stumped. Kakashi motioned for them to follow and lead them into the woods of training ground 7.<p>

"In order to correctly perform this action, you must first concentrate a small amount of chakra to your feet." Naruto's eyebrow twitched slightly. _'Oh great. This kind of thing takes good chakra control. Arg!' _Sakura glanced at her whiskered teammate, well aware of his lack of chakra control. She also spared Sasuke a glance, noticing his gaze seemed locked onto their sensei. "However, you must also maintain the control of chakra in your feet while you climb the tree. Only then will you be able to successfully climb this tree." He pulled a kunai from its holster and twirled it around lazily. "As you advance up the length of the tree you will mark your last point with a slash mark." The trio nodded and sat on the ground for a moment to gather their chakra. Sakura was first to try the exercise, a small bead of sweat trickling down her brow. _'Alright. Focus the chakra to my feet…and go!'_

Naruto watched in awe as his pink-haired teammate became a blur on the tree trunk, almost yelling in surprise when she stopped on the lowest branch. "Wow! Sakura-chan you're amazing!" The pinkette blushed and stuck out her tongue playfully. Naruto cracked his knuckles loudly and pulled a kunai from his attached holster, determination glittering in his gaze. "Better scoot over Sakura-chan, 'cause I'm about to join you up there." Both Sakura and Sasuke rolled their eyes, Sakura's much more playfully than Sasuke's. The blonde ran up the tree trunk and managed to get barely halfway before falling backwards, barely having enough time to etch a slash into the bark. He landed on his head with a loud thud, receiving a nasty bump on his noggin. Sakura giggled as he gently rubbed his head in pain. Sasuke merely snorted and muttered "Dobe." Naruto quickly recovered and attacked the tree again, making a small sliver of progress, before falling back to earth, landing on his feet this time. "Sasuke, why don't you use a different tree. I have a feeling Naruto isn't going to stop until he's made it to the branch."

The Uchiha prodigy simply shrugged and moved to a different tree nearby and began his slow ascent. He became even more frustrated as he noticed Naruto getting closer to the bottom branch. _'I'm not going to be shown up by the dead-last! I am an Uchiha!' _Kakashi watched both boys with interest, more so with Sasuke than Naruto. Kakashi wasn't one to judge and he certainly didn't judge Naruto, not one bit. However, he did allow himself to acknowledge the fact that he was the farthest behind in his class, including his terrible chakra control and limited patience. In Kakashi's mind Sasuke needed his attention more than Sakura or Naruto, given the fact that he was an Uchiha and one day, soon, his Sharingan would activate. The silver-haired man pulled out his perverted orange book and began to read, his thoughts of the Uchiha and his team's training drifting away into the recesses of his mind.

"C'mon Naruto! You're so close!" Sakura chanted as said blonde slowly but surely made his way to her branch. As her teammate relentlessly attacked the tree, she lifted her gaze to the sky, her mind becoming slightly hazy. _'It's a beautiful day today…good for a picnic.' _A cool breeze tugged on her pink locks, her eyes closing in peace, her weight slowly shifting backwards. _'Maybe after training Naruto will go on a picnic with me. I could buy his favorite ramen from Ichiraku's and maybe some rice cakes…or maybe dango…' _The pinkette slowly opened her eyes as the breeze strengthened, her gaze seeking out abnormal cloud shapes. Suddenly, a lone cloud began to shift into…something. Sakura squinted and leaned back a bit more to get a better look. The cloud formed two big triangle shapes, which Sakura deemed as ears, and grew a bushy tail soon after. _'That looks like a…fox? I've never seen a fox shape before…' _Suddenly the cloud-fox grew eight more tails, it's eyes flashed red and a loud roar escaped it's muzzle. The sudden gust of wind pushed at Sakura's body until her weight finally shifted, her fragile body falling quickly to the hard ground below. The world blurred together into a crazy myriad of colors, the cloud-fox being the only clear image.

Naruto wiped a thin sheen of sweat from his brow as he stared at his progress, quite pleased with himself. He'd stopped counting how many times it'd take for him to reach the branch, he realized it really didn't matter. All that mattered was proving he could do it in one day, proving to Sakura that he was a capable ninja, even if he was only a genin. As he caught his breath, he looked up at his crush, a smile adorning his whiskered face. He noticed her closed eyes as the breeze played with her long hair, making her look even more beautiful. He focused his attention onto the tree trunk once more and tensed, his whole body ready to spring, when suddenly a pink blur traced his peripheral vision. Time seemed to move in slow motion as he felt his body lunge towards hers, his eyes widened in panic. She let out a feminine squeak as her body fell into his, her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck. Time seemed to speed up to its normal tempo again, but both their hearts were beating almost erratically. "Sakura-chan are you ok?" She shook her head and snapped her gaze to the sky, searching frantically for the cloud-fox to appear once more. Nothing. All that remained was a thin wisp of a cloud, the sun glimmering brightly behind it.

"I-I'm fine Naruto. Just got a little…" She couldn't bring herself to say "distracted." She had to appear sharp and attentive around him. She wanted to prove that she was always going to watch his back and not let anything bad happen to him ever again. She wanted…

Naruto gently placed her back on her own feet, his hands holding her upper arms steadily. He found himself glaring at his sensei and Sasuke, suddenly realizing they had said or done nothing about the incident. Sasuke returned the glare and then resumed his training, while Kakashi-sensei seemed to want to say something but shook his head instead. Naruto felt a bit of anger spike within him at his teammate and sensei's lack of interest in Sakura's well-being.

_'I can't believe him! Our own sensei didn't even bat an eye about Sakura! She could've been hurt…'_

A low growl echoed from within his mind. **_My my, touchy aren't we? You seem ready to defend her with your own life._**

_'Of course I would! Sakura-chan is my best friend and I can't bear to see her hurt or even…'_

_**Dead? Listen to me Kit, you can't possibly protect her from everything bad. Someday something will go wrong and there will be nothing you can do to stop it.**_

Naruto gritted his teeth. _'I won't let that happen! I'd rather die than see Sakura-chan get hurt!'_

There was a low growl again. **_Interesting. This vixen has quite a hold on you…I've never seen anything like it._**

_'What the heck are you talking about?'_

_**Of all the people I've been sealed within, you are the only male Jinchuriki to defend your mate in such a way. **_The fox snarled. **_The others eventually gave up and ended up losing their mates and soon after their lives._**

_'Whoa….wait a sec! Sakura-chan isn't my mate!'_

_**Oh really? Then how do you explain the…**_

The Fox Demon's response was cut off by Sakura's voice. He shook his head and looked at her confused. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan, what did you say?" Sakura looked a tad bit worried. "I asked if you were alright. You've been gripping my arms for awhile now and it was starting to hurt." Naruto's eyes widened as he quickly released her arms, red hand prints quickly forming. "I'm so sorry Sakura-chan! I didn't mean too!" Sakura simply rubbed her arms and rolled her eyes. "It's ok Baka, they don't hurt anymore." She glanced at the tree. "Shouldn't you be climbing that tree? The sun's starting to set." The blonde got a sort of alarmed look on his face and leaped back over to the tree, picked up his forgotten kunai, and began his training once more. Meanwhile, Sakura rested beneath a nearby oak, watching as the poor blonde slowly made his way up the tree. _'Oh Naruto. You never give up do you? I guess that's one of the things I admire about you…' _She sighed and felt a cold chill creep down her spine. _'What was that thing I saw? Was it just my imagination?' _She shook her head frustrated. _'No, that thing's eyes were red…and I heard it roar…what does it mean?'_

_**Aren't you supposed to know, like, everything Ms. Smarty-pants.**_

Sakura groaned inwardly. _'Would you just go away? I don't need you butting in.'_

_**Let me think…no! I enjoy bugging the heck out of you and making you mad. Hehe.**_

Sakura blocked out her Inner's annoying voice and focused on watching Naruto. About two hours later, Kakashi suggested they stop for the day and head home and rest for tomorrow. Sakura said nothing and slowly got up, Sasuke had a major scowl on his face because he hadn't been able to reach the branch, and Naruto continued to run up the tree trunk, ignoring his sensei's words. "Naruto you need to stop and rest. It'll do you no good to practice all night and have no energy or chakra left in the morning." Kakashi said again. Sasuke snorted and turned to leave. "Just leave him, the Dobe will end up killing himself anyway." He then added in a darker tone, "I'm sure the villagers would be very happy about that." At that moment everything seemed to stop, the breeze died off and even the birds fell silent under the suddenly tense atmosphere. Naruto stopped and a shadow fell across his face, although no one could see it because he had his back to them. He suddenly whipped around and met Sasuke's cold, onyx eyes with his fiery, sapphires, his blood boiling.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?"

Sasuke sneered at his whiskered teammate. "I said I'm pretty sure the villagers would be more than happy if you killed yourself while training."

Before Naruto could react, a pink flash blinked in front of the young Uchiha. Sakura held a kunai in her hand, the weapon bared at the boy's neck. "Go home Sasuke." He glared at her angrily, furious that a commoner such as her should _dare_ threaten him. She returned his glare with a look of pure fire, her emerald orbs burning brightly in the dim light. "Leave. NOW!" The prodigy glanced at Naruto and back to Sakura and said nothing. As he turned to leave, he gave Sakura a half-glance, saying ominously, "You better watch yourself Haruno. You wouldn't want to come across me alone." Suddenly the Uchiha felt the sharp prick of a kunai pressed, once again, to his neck. He narrowed his eyes dangerously at his blonde teammate who returned the very same look.

"Don't you DARE threaten Sakura-chan. Ever." He growled coldly.

Kakashi watched in a shocked stupor, never had he seen a team act this way towards one another. He observed Sasuke's expressions carefully, concluding that he would most likely be the rift in the team; the one who refused help from others. The masked nin then glanced over Sakura and concluded that she was the brains of the team; the strategist, and possibly a great force when provoked. Finally, Kakashi analyzed Naruto's posture, noting how he had shifted his left portion of his body protectively in front of his pink-haired teammate. His muscles were taught and stiff; prepared to attack or defend. Kakashi also noticed the seemingly murderous aura surrounding the young boy.

_'The aura doesn't belong to the Nine Tails, that's a relief.' _He thought. _'However, his anger towards Sasuke is quite dangerous and could possibly awaken the Nine Tails within him.'_

Sakura shot her whiskered teammate a shocked glance.

_'His voice…it's so scary but…somehow I feel a bit safer hearing it.'_ She mentally shook her head and returned her fiery gaze to Sasuke, the boy who had once been the object of her dreams. Suddenly, she noticed a quick flash of what looked like victory appear in the Uchiha's eyes, but it quickly disappeared. It was then that she also noticed how part of Naruto's body was somewhat shielding her from Sasuke, his left arm poised to block any punch the black-eyed boy threw out. Indignation and anger flared up for a moment as she assumed Naruto thought her weak, but it quickly died away.

**_What's the matter with you? He obviously thinks you're weak or something! _**Her Inner ranted furiously, steam coming out of her Inner's "ears". The pinkette blocked out her Inner's furious rant and focused on how sweet Naruto's action truly was.

_'Oh Naruto, you're going to get hurt one day doing something like that.'_ She felt a tug of a smile on her lips. _'But I guess you won't listen to me huh?'_

The three genin continued their stare down for a few moments longer before finally breaking apart. Sasuke merely smirked and Naruto continued to hold out his kunai, his body providing a barrier between the Uchiha prodigy and his sweet cherry blossom. "Ok well remember training at 8 tomorrow; meet me at the bridge again." Silence. The masked nin sighed and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke turned and slowly walked back home, his hands casually shoved into his pockets. Naruto eyed his teammate carefully before turning to Sakura, his face now softened and tired. "You ok Sakura-chan?" She nodded quickly and replaced her kunai into its holding pouch. She suddenly saw a hand held out towards her, beckoning gently. "Come on Sakura, I'll walk you home…" He then rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well…you know…if you want me too I mean…" The pinkette giggled at the blonde's sudden nervousness, the sound quickly breaking any remaining tension in the air. She teetered on her toes and decided to play with the poor blonde a bit. "Well…maybe. Maybe not, will you protect me the whole way?" She questioned, biting her lip to hold back her laughter. His face became a bit more serious. "Of course Sakura-chan! I won't let anything bad happen to you!" He held out a thumbs up, his goofy grin spreading across his face. "It's a promise. Believe it!"

Sakura giggled again. "Okay…but you have to take me to dinner." He shook his head in disbelief. _'Did…did she just ask ME to take her to dinner?' _The boy felt a gentle warmth flow through his body. "Uh…s-sure! Where would you like to…um…like to eat?" _'Damn nerves!' _

Sakura giggled at the blonde's slight stuttering. "Well…how about you pick?" Naruto's face instantly brightened and in a flash he grabbed his teammates hand and dragged her back to the village. "Naruto! Slow down will ya!" The boy sweat dropped and slowed his pace to a quick walk, his hand still grasping hers. "Oh, sorry Sakura-chan. I'm just really hungry." She rolled her eyes as he smiled sheepishly. A few moments later, including some hateful glares thrown Naruto's way, the duo arrived at a small restaurant that read 'Ichiraku's Ramen'. She gave Naruto a funny look. "Ramen again eh?" He grinned and she felt his hand tighten slightly. "Yeah, Iruke-sensei took me here when I was little and I fell in love with the stuff." It was then that the boy realized he was still holding the pinkette's hand and suddenly he felt as if his life were in danger. "Ah! I'm sorry! I forgot!" He shielded his face and awaited a hard punch but nothing came. He opened his eyes and saw Sakura standing before him imitating one of his many poses; her hands resting behind her head, her tongue sticking out playfully. "I'm not mad Baka." She put her arms down again and mock frowned. "But I will be if I don't get anything to eat."

"Uh right! C'mon!" Once again he grabbed her hand, albeit gentler, and tugged her inside and seated themselves at a stool. The restaurant wasn't too crowded, probably because the sun had set and the moon was slowly peeking over the Hokage Mountain. "Hey Ayame!" The boy's voice startled the young woman behind the counter, causing her to quickly turn around, only to breathe a sigh of relief. "Oh Naruto it's you." She eyed Sakura. "And I see you brought your little friend again eh?" Both genin caught the suggestive note in Ayame's voice and both blush lightly. "Ok what'll you two have?" Naruto ordered Miso Pork Ramen, as always, and Sakura ordered the same. A few minutes later the two were hungrily eating their ramen, although Sakura was a little less messy. "Done!" The cried in unison, causing Ayame to raise a brow. Knowing Naruto Ayame set another steaming bowl in front of the blonde and watched in amusement as he dug in hungrily. "I'd like another bowl too please." Sakura asked somewhat timidly.

A moment later both sat somewhat blurry-eyed from the warm food filling their stomachs. As Naruto reached for his toad pouch, Ayame stopped him with a sweet smile. "It's on me. Don't worry about it." "Really? Thanks Ayame!" Sakura expressed her thanks as well and the two left, quickly disappearing into the village night.

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><p><em>A Few Hours Earlier<em>

"Kaori! Open this door please! We just want to talk I swear!" The worried shouts passed over the blonde Jinchuriki's stiff body. Her blank gaze bore a deep hole into the ceiling, her eyes never once blinking. Pounding on the door resonated in the small room and echoed through her body, her heart slowly keeping pace with the sound. Dried tear streaks stained her cheeks and pillow, her mouth unmoving in a parted pose. "Kaori please! Talk to us! We're your teammates!" The word "teammates" bounced around the girl's skull, a dim light slowly returning to her dead eyes.

_'Teammates….such a complicated word….why…..why must they keep saying that….?'_

Her mind was foggy and her brain was not functioning correctly, for she had no control of her arms or legs or anything.

_'I must not move….moving will only bring pain…..stop…pain…stop pain….'_

"Neko-chan listen to me! It's Ichi! Please let us in! We don't want to force it open…" The boy's voice suddenly spread over her body, creating a dull warmth in her dying core. She wanted to turn her head and face the door, she wanted to see this teammate of hers' face, she wanted to get out of this place and never return. However, her body still refused to move, not even a finger twitched.

**_Get up dammit! Get up you pathetic brat!_**

_'That voice…I-I can't move…'_

**_You're useless. Signed up to be a ninja, willing to die for your village and you decide to die like this. Lying in your bed, waiting for death to sweep you away._**

The blonde's vision darkened and went black for a second before lighting dimly. A cage loomed before her tiny figure, the cage big enough to hold a great creature of some sort.

_'The voice is coming from this cage…Who are you and why are you here?'_

An angry growl sounded from the dark corner of the cage. **_You stupid brat! I'm the great and feared Two Tailed Monster Cat! It's your fault I'm here!_**

A vision passed before Kaori's eyes, a ceremony was about to take place. She watched as a figure clad in all black wearing a strange mask gently placed a whimpering baby into the center of a field. A strange symbol was painted onto the ground underneath the child, a few torches provided added light along with the moon's glow.

_'I….don't understand….why is that child left there? It has done nothing wrong.'_

**_Just watch and keep quiet._**

She remained silent as a few more masked figures appeared faintly in the background, forming an edgy circle around the young victim. Suddenly two men appeared from the shadows, one wearing what appeared to be official garbs, the other wearing a simple shinobi outfit. Nothing fancy. Both men wore melancholy expressions; their hearts greatly troubled. "Are you ready?" The well-dressed man asked. "Yes, Lord Moto. I am ready to make the transfer." The drab man replied, his voice wavering slightly.

_'I know a man by Lord Moto….but who is this other man?'_

The voice just growled.

Kaori watched in wonder and awe as the man called Lord Moto went through multiple hand signs, only a few the blonde were able to catch. Meanwhile, the other man stood on another symbol marking the ground, small tears clinging to his eyes. His last words were an "I'm sorry…Neko-chan."

**"Secret Art: The Ultimate Sacrifice: Bijuu Transer!"**

The drab man let out not a sound as blue flames erupted from his skin, his eyes now blank and two different colors; yellow and green.

_'What is happening to him? Why are they doing this to him?'_

_**It was for the best, at least that is what your "Lord Moto" thought**_. The voice hissed in contempt.

The girl watched in horror as the blue flames left the man's body and surrounded the baby, suddenly delving itself into the child's body, a distant roar echoing over the field, a strange seal etching itself onto the babe's stomach. The drab man's body collapsed onto the hard ground, the transfer leaving nothing more than an empty husk. Kaori caught a glimpse of his eyes and gasped as she met a pair of wide, pale eyes. She quickly turned away.

_'Please…stop this! I do not wish to see this anymore!'_

_**No! You must see this! Otherwise you will never awaken!**_

The vision faded and was replaced by another, this time taking place in a private training ground. A blonde girl, probably around the age of 7 or 8, stood panting, a shuriken held in between her fingers. Suddenly, an older man appeared and began praising the young girl.

_'T-That's Lord Moto! B-but who is that girl…?'_

"Thanks pops! I've been working really hard on my aim!" She wiped some sweat off her brow and frowned a little. "Of course I'd probably have better control if the others would just train with me…" The old man sighed and got on one knee and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about the other academy students. If they don't want to train with you so what? It just means that when you finally surpass them, you can truthfully say you did it all on your own." This cheered the little girl up and she smirked triumphantly. Time passed and the girl's body was so weak she could barely stand, her unusually large chakra coils were almost depleted, at least somewhat. "Ok time to stop, we don't need you to pass out now do we?" The blonde shook her head and fiercely launched a shuriken at the target, hitting the center right on. "I did it!" She shouted and then collapsed exhausted. Lord Moto began to panic and watched as dark blue chakra danced around the girl's body, twitching and snapping like flames.

_'What's going on! Tell me!'_

_**Shut up and keep watching! You will find out soon.**_

The girl's body slowly rose up but she looked different. Her eyes were the same, except for the odd-colors and the slit pupils. She snarled and bared a set of normal teeth, save for two elongated canines. Her tiny nails had grown longer and sharper and her hair had snapped out of the messy bun retaining it. The child roared loudly and began leaping around the compound, trying to escape. Suddenly, in a flash of white the girl's body collapsed into the arms of Lord Moto, her body once again normal. As he lifted her up, Kaori noticed the kanji on the back of the girl's jacket. It read: Kaori.

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><p>Phew! Finally got Chapter 4 up! Man I've been so lazybusy! Anywho, no Kaori did not lose her memories she's just in a kind of super shocked state, kinda like a coma but she's awake and yeah. The visions are all the little details of the story I didn't mention or explain before and there's more to come!

lol Cliffhanger! bwahahaha!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters. All I own are the characters I created for the story and my OC. **

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><p>Ichiba stood with his teammate and friend Eri, both preparing to break down the door to their friend and teammate's room. "Kaori I hope you're listening! In 5 seconds we're gonna break done your door and I'm gonna knock some sense into ya!" Ichiba glanced at Eri, her face was set hard. <em>'Please Kaori…get up…' <em> "One….Two…Three…" Eri began counting to five, her fists clenching tighter with each number. "…Five!" The two nodded and raised their legs to kick down the door, when suddenly it opened with a creak.

"….."

"Uh…about your door…we weren't _really _gonna break it down. Right Eri?" Ichiba said.

"Yep. We were gonna break in if you didn't get up and talk to us." Ichiba gave his teammate a shocked look.

Kaori shook her head. "I'm sorry." It was then the two noticed the tear streaks on their friends face. "Kaori what's wrong? Why were you crying?" The blonde paused and opened her door wider, beckoning for the two to enter. They sat on the bed with Kaori sitting in a chair facing them. "Well…" she took a shaky breath. "Before I tell you, you both have to swear to not tell **anybody **what I tell you. Got it?" Eri and Ichiba nodded. "Ok. Well the other night I came home and couldn't find my mom." She paused. "I looked around and heard noises coming from her bedroom…" Ichiba winced as he guessed what she found. "I found my mom, drunk, with a strange man feeling her up and everything." She shuddered. "I'm not too sure what happened, but I remember feeling so angry. So I…I attacked the man." Eri gasped while Ichiba listened with raised eyebrows. "I…I remember my mom screaming and the guy trying to pull me off. I remember biting him and feeling everything go dark. I saw red and smelled blood everywhere." Despite Kaori being her friend and teammate, Eri still shivered in fear as she listened and watched Kaori. "I…I kept attacking him and the blood just made it worse." She sniffed. "Finally, I k-killed him…" The room grew deathly quiet. "So…what did you do with the body?" The blonde scrunched her eyes tight. "I took it out to the cliffs and dropped it over the edge."

"What about your mom?" Kaori looked ashamed. "I…I knocked her out so I could clean her room. T-there was s-so much b-blood…" The girl's lip quivered as she saw the bloody scene in her memory. "After that I cleaned myself and went to bed, and haven't moved until now." No one spoke for a while, and then Ichiba walked over and put a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Hey, we all make mistakes. We all do something we're not proud of, you just learn to live with it." He said softly. The blonde jinchuriki turned on him fiercely. "You think I can just forget this? You think I can just go back to everything being normal?" Eri stood up suddenly. "No! We're just telling you that it will hurt less in time. Nothing is ever "normal" for long." Kaori growled. "No! It will never go away! I looked into that man's eyes and saw his fear! I saw his whole life in those eyes! The blood won't go away! It never has and never will!" Ichiba backed away from his friend. _'Never has…what is she talking about? Has this happened before?' _Eri tried to put her arm on Kaori's shoulder but the blonde rudely shrugged her off and stood tall. "Kaori has this happened before?" The blonde froze and shook with guilt and rage. "A few years ago Sayuri-san took me somewhere to eat for my birthday. The people there were rude to me and as we left a big man named Gordo stopped us. He held me while people from the crowd beat me and cut me and made me bleed."

Ichiba felt anger rise within him. _'If I ever see that guy…I swear I'm gonna kill him.' _"I was hurt pretty bad and I had to get Sayuri-san out of there." She looked guilty. "So I killed him and ran off." A loud gasp filled the air and everyone turned to see Kaori's mother in the doorway, her hands covering her gaping mouth. Kaori felt dread course through her. "I-it was you?" She whispered meekly. No response. "Y-you killed Kon?" The blonde shook her head. "Yes mother…I k-killed him." Tears swelled in her eyes. "But I was protecting you!" She blurted out. "That man was taking advantage of you! You were drunk and didn't realize what he was doing!" Her mother's expression changed from shocked to sad and then to anger. "Taking advantage of me? He was my boyfriend!" Stunned silence. "W-what? Your boyfriend?" Kaori felt a stab of pain go right through her heart. "Yes! We were going to get married in three weeks! I would be happy again! I would have been loved again!" Her mother's words stung, causing the blonde's temper to once again flare.

**_Your mother is pathetic for a human being_**

****_'You know, for once I agree with you.'_

"I love you mom! I've been looking after you ever since I was old enough to do my own chores and run errands!" Her mother stood taller. "Excuse me? **I'm** the one who had to raise your sorry ass! **I'm** the one who lost my jobs because of what you carry with you! **I'm** the one who had to take the hit for every time you got in a fight with other kids!"

"Take the hit? I never fought any of those kids! If I did it was because they were bullying other kids! It was the kids I helped that beat me up! After I selflessly helped them they turn on me and try to kill me!" Eri and Ichiba sat on the bed, listening with disbelieving ears.

"If some kid lost their ball in the woods I'd go get it for them and they'd just beat me up and call me names! No one ever thanked me! No one ever helped me when I needed it! Especially you!" She pointed an accusing finger at her mother.

"I don't care! You've been ruining my life from the very beginning! Even before you were born my friends distanced themselves from me! I didn't even know why!" Her mother's face was bright red and her hair was frizzy.

"At least you had friends! I didn't have any! I only had you and dad and he died on my 1st birthday!"

"Sorry sweetie. Your father didn't just die. He was betrayed." The silky tone was laced with evil.

Kaori looked at her mom suspiciously. "Betrayed? By who?" Her mother "tsked". "By someone he cared deeply for and would die for." Suddenly the pieces all fit.

"Y-you! You killed dad?" Her mother shook her head. "Nope." She pointed a slender finger at her daughter and laughed evilly.

"M-me? B-but how…?" Her mother "tsked" again.

"Sweetie. Your father was a Jinchuriki. Just. Like. You."

_'What? But that means…'_

**_It's true Kitten. Your birth father was my jailor before you. _**

****_'B-but…how did he die?'_

_ **Remember the vision I showed you? The ceremony?**_

****_'Yeah.'_

_ **Well that was the transfer ceremony of the Two Tails, me, from your father to you.**_

****_'WHAT? That man was…dad?'_

_ **I'm sorry child. It was your father. He sacrificed his life to safely seal me into you. Kaori, you are the next jailor of the Two Tails.**_

****The blonde trembled. **_Ask that wretch about the man who died on your 1st birthday._**

****She took a deep breath. "Mom. Who was that man who died on my birthday?" The older woman sighed annoyingly. "That was just another boyfriend to replace your father. It was a shame he got killed, he was much better in the bed than your dad."

The comment made the three genin blush madly, but Kaori's was more out of anger than embarrassment. She growled. "So…you didn't love dad at all?" Her mother rolled her eyes. "Of course I did, at least until he decided to tell me he was a jinchuriki…right after I found out I was 5 weeks pregnant." Kaori looked up. "You didn't know?" The woman shook her head. "We got married shortly after and I lived my life as a prisoner…well at least until he died."

"Of course when you were born I fell in love with you. That didn't last long though, since Lord Moto told me what your idiot of a father had done." Her mother shook her head again.

A shadow fell across Kaori's face as blue chakra began to form around her body. "**You…BITCH!" **

Kaori leapt at her mother, claws elongated and canines bared. She cut a gash across her mother's right arm, blood dripping onto the once clean floor. "Kaori no!" Eri and Ichiba cried. Kaori glanced at her friends, her odd-colored, slitted eyes sending shivers down their spines. **"Stay out of my way." **She growled. With that she attacked her mother, blood going everywhere. "Stop!" Eri and Ichiba rushed to their dear friend's side and each grabbed an arm. "Stop this Neko-chan! You don't have to do this!" The blonde snarled and threw Eri into a wall, almost knocking the poor girl out. "Eri!" Ichiba gritted his teeth in frustration. _'I gotta stop her! But how?' _He stepped between her mother and Kaori, his clothes soon ripping to shreds, blood seeping out of his wounds. "KAORI! LISTEN TO ME! YOU HAVE TO STOP!" His outburst made the girl stop, blood dripping for her claws. "Please stop! If you kill your mother you will be no better than the monster inside of you. All the names the villagers call you will become true." Kaori got this strange look in her cat eyes, tears beginning to form.

**"Ichi…I…I'**m sorry…" She whispered, her voice regaining its gentle yet strong tone. Her mother lay passed out and Ichiba winced from his deep scratches. "Ichiba you ok?" Eri asked as she limped over while holding her sore ribs. The boy didn't respond, he was too busy staring at the ears and black markings on his best friend. "Oh these…yeah I don't know why but they always show up when I get like this. It must be from the Two Tails." He shook his head, trying to ignore the markings and ears slowly receding. "C'mon, let's get you and Kaori's mom to the hospital."

The blonde looked almost terrified. "But what do we tell them?" Her dark-haired teammate shrugged. "We'll just say they were attacked by a big animal in the woods, and that you fought it and that's where you got all the blood." Kaori sighed. "I swear Eri, you may be a bit annoying but you sure are smart." The blackette rolled her eyes and helped Ichiba out the door, followed by Kaori who carried her mother in her arms.

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><p><em>Two weeks later- Leaf Village<em>

Naruto sighed as he stared at the ceiling. His fan spun lazily, creating a gentle breeze barely noticeable. He shifted his position to sit up, wincing slightly. _'Damn. That training exercise really wore me out.' _The blonde stood and started to get dressed. _'Kakashi-sensei sure does know how to train, I just wish he wasn't reading that stupid book of his all the time.' _Movement by his window caught the boy's attention. He opened the window slowly and saw a little blue bird perched on his window sill. He chuckled softly. "Hey there little guy. Come to wake me up eh?" The bird tilted its head from side to side and chirped at him, before flapping its little wings and landing in the boy's spiky hair.

"Gah! Hey! Whad'ya think you're doing?" He reached up to shoo the bird away which resulted in his hand receiving a nasty peck. "Ow! Stupid bird!" The bird merely chirped and nestled itself into his mass of hair, clearly pleased it had found such a cozy nest.

Naruto growled softly. "All right you can stay, but no laying eggs or anything like that ok?" The bird responded with a tweet and a peck to his scalp. "Gah! And no pecking either!" The creature was silent and didn't seem disturbed as they boy continued to put on his black undershirt and pull on his bright orange jumpsuit. _'What the heck am I gonna do with this bird?' _As he walked out the door, Naruto paused to look over team 7's photo. Seeing Sakura's smiling face gave the blonde an idea.

Moments later, Naruto stood outside the Haruno house, bird in tow. He knocked on the door, hoping desperately that either Sakura or her mom would answer the door. Luck was not on the poor boy's side. The door opened quickly and revealed an older man, probably in his mid 30's, who, upon seeing Naruto, immediately scowled. "What do you think _you're _doing here Demon Brat?" Naruto winced and clenched his fists. _'Great. He's one of _**them.**"

It was in that split second that the man noticed the boy's unusual passenger.

_'Is that a bird? What the hell…?'_

The bird stared back at the man and when he began to insult Naruto again, the bird launched itself at the man, scratching and pecking his face.

"OW! What the hell-get this damn bird off me!"

Naruto bit back a laugh and tried to gently remove the bird and calm it down. "Hey! Hey! Birdie calm down! It's ok! I'm ok!" Finally he managed to cup the bird in his hands and hold it close to his chest, the bird squawking protests. The blonde began to stroke its feathers gently. "Hey its ok little guy, he didn't hurt me." Soon the bird had calmed down and returned to its cozy nest of blonde fluff, all the while keeping a sharp eye on the strange man.

Meanwhile, Sakura was fixing her hair when she heard her father shout loudly. "Daddy? What wrong?" She hadn't heard Naruto knock so she was confused as to why her father was standing in the doorway with the door wide open. "Dad?" Her father turned around and glared at his daughter as if she'd done something wrong. She noticed the mysterious scratches on his face. "Sakura. Sweetie." His voice sounded strained. "Please go get the first aid kit." The pinkette nodded and ran into the kitchen.

Her father turned back to the blonde menace on his step. "You didn't answer me, brat. Why are you here?" The boy bowed his head politely. "I came to ask if I could talk to your daughter, sir." The older man took on a disgusted look. "What? You want to talk to **my **precious daughter? You? A demon?" Naruto clenched his teeth tightly as he tried to calm the rising anger. "No. I won't have my daughter fraternizing with the likes of you."

"Daddy? Who's at the door?" A soft voice called out. Both man and boy peered into the house and saw the subject of their conversation. Her face lit up as she saw Naruto.

"Oh hey Naruto! What are you doing here?" She didn't seem to notice her father's annoyed expression.

"Hey Sakura-chan. I just-" Suddenly the boy had a feeling of dread wash over him. _'Uh-oh.' _The boy gave Mr. Haruno a sheepish smile as the man glared daggers at the village brat.

"What did you just call my daughter?" He asked angrily. The blonde rubbed the back of his head nervously as sweat began to gather on his brow.

"Uh-uh…I meant-um…" "Oh daddy leave him alone, I don't mind him calling me Sakura-chan." Naruto looked at Sakura as if she was his savior.

Her father grumbled. And grunted as the first aid kit was shoved into his hands. He looked up to see his daughter walking out the door with the "Demon of the Hidden Leaf." "Where do you think you're going missy? Get back here this instant!"

Sakura shook her head and continued walking. "Sorry dad but I've got training with Kakashi-sensei and Naruto." She paused. "And Sasuke."

The girl waved and walked with Naruto and they didn't stop until they could no longer see her house. "Ok first off, why are you here and second…" She drifted off as she finally noticed the bird resting atop the boy's head. He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah well about that…See I came to your house to ask for your help." Sakura blinked. "My help?" He nodded. "I didn't know what to do with this little guy and wanted to see if you could think of something."

They were both silent as Sakura observed the bird. "Is he injured?" Naruto shook his head. "I don't think so. He's flying fine and if he were injured or sick he wouldn't have attacked your dad like he did." This really got the girl's attention. "This little bird did all that to my dad's face?" When her teammate confirmed it, she burst into a fit of laughter. "Hahaha, wow! I've never seen my dad look so…so stupid!" Naruto's face lit up as he realized she wasn't mad at him. The bird however thought she was insulting him and proceeded to ruffle her hair with its claws while squawking loudly.

"H-Hey! Get out of Sakura-chan's hair! She was just being nice!" The bird hopped onto the boy's head and seemed proud of itself. Naruto grabbed the bird and shook it. "Hey don't be mean to Sakura-chan! Do it again and I'm gonna-" He was stopped by a small hand on his. "Calm down Naruto, he just messed up my hair a bit." The bird looked between boy and girl and got a twinkle in its beady eyes. It freed itself from the blonde's grasp and perched on the pinkette's head, quickly setting to work.

"Hey! What's he doing?" Sakura panicked. Naruto shrugged and watched as the bird worked its magic. "He-he's fixing your hair!" Sakura froze to allow the bird to continue, her eyes wide and a bit confused. A few minutes later the bird hopped back to its original host, carrying a smug air around him.

"Hey Sakura-chan you should look in the mirror, he did a really good job." Both genin headed into the nearest clothing store and found a wall mirror. "Oh wow! Thanks little guy!" She smiled as she gazed at her now non-messy hair. The bird chirped and tweeted happily and flew over and plopped himself onto her head, snuggling in the not so lush but still soft and warm hair. "Haha, I think he really likes you now Sakura-chan." They both laughed and headed out into the village. "Hey, since we don't have any training today why don't we go visit Ino." Naruto suggested. Sakura sighed. "Ok, although I don't know if she'll still talk to me or not, even though I'm not into Sasuke anymore." The blonde shook his head, frustrated. "Well if she ignores you then I'll ignore her too. Eventually she'll give and realize that she can have the Teme all for herself." The two exchanged smiles, including the bird, and made their way to the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

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><p>Geez Kaori's mom is a crazy female dog! LOL Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Btw, post a review if you like the little birdy of Naruto's. xD<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters. All I own are the characters I created for the story and my OC. **

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><p>"Here's your bouquet of tulips ma'am." A platinum blonde smiled sweetly as she handed an elderly woman a skillfully wrapped bouquet. "Why thank you my dear," the woman replied before handing the girl an extra yen. "That's for making time for an old grandma like myself." The shocked blonde graciously thanked the woman and watched as she shuffled out into the streets. Ino turned and deposited the exact payment into the register while pocketing the extra money. Just as she was about to shoo a pesky ladybug away from a cluster of daisies she heard a familiar loudmouth approaching. <em>'Oh dear, this is gonna be good.' <em>She sweatdropped. Her forced smile shattered as her eyes met a pair of emerald orbs.

_"Sakura." _

The name came out in a hiss causing Sakura to flinch ever so slightly. "Ino…" Meanwhile, Naruto stood watching, uncomfortably, as the two former friends stared each other down. "Ahem, um…Ino, Sakura-chan and I just wanted to come by and see how you were doing." Ino broke her intense stare with her ex-best friend and fixed the blonde idiot with a confused look. "You AND Sakura wanted to say hi?" She shook her head and scoffed. "As if. I know you just dragged her down here, although I'm surprised you don't have any bumps on your head…." She trailed off as a bright blue blob suddenly plopped itself on Naruto's head. Ino immediately recoiled as if it were a giant rat, while Naruto and Sakura smiled at the blob. "Hey little guy, decided to come back huh?" Naruto chuckled while Sakura shot him a slightly threatening look. Ino stared at the little 'thing' warily. "Uh…mind telling me what the heck that is?" Naruto was quick to respond. "Oh, sorry Ino. This is….uh…Tori!"

"Tori?" Both girls asked.

The blonde nodded quickly, "yeah that's his name. I found him outside my window sill this morning and when I opened the window he just plopped himself right on my head." As he went on to explain, Ino couldn't help but watch Sakura closely.

_'She doesn't seem to have changed much. Still looks ridiculous with that big forehead of hers.' _Ino narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. _'Although, she does seem to be hanging around Naruto a lot. Maybe….'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Naruto finishing his somewhat lengthy explanation.

"….."

"…."

"….So…basically he's, like, your pet bird or something?"

Sakura and Naruto exchanged looks.

"Uh, well I guess you could say that. Although I don't think Tori would really appreciate being called a 'pet'." Ino quirked an eyebrow.

Sakura began to feel the atmosphere turn a bit awkward and suddenly wanted to get the heck out of there! "Ah…well we better be going! Nice seeing you again…Ino." The pinkette quickly grabbed her teammate's hand and beat a hasty retreat, Naruto having only enough time to flash an awkward smile and a wave.

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><p><em>Same Time-Ichiba<em>

**Lightning Style: Bolt Fang!**

With a sudden burst of speed, the blonde genin dodged the bright slash of lightning, the attack missing her by mere inches. Her attacker grunted as he quickly readjusted his position to block the oncoming fist speeding towards his face.

"Nice block Ichiba, I can tell you've been working on your Taijutsu. That lightning attack you performed was also impressive, but you could've still caught her as you turned, but that's alright. You don't have that kind of chakra storage yet." Ichiba nodded at his sensei and allowed the slightest grin to cross his face.

"Kaori, I can see you've also improved your Taijutsu skills, if that punch had connected Ichiba would've at least had a broken nose or worse." The blonde's eyes widened a bit at the comment.

"Aw Ryo-sensei! Don't give her ideas!" Ichiba mock-whined.

Kaori bit her lip to hold back her laughter. "Ok you two, take a short break and then if Eri shows up Ichiba will have first go."

Both genin nodded their heads and headed for the welcoming shade of a great oak.

"Ugh, man it's so _hot_ out today!" Kaori hissed distastefully. Ichiba nodded his head in agreement.

"So where _is _Eri anyway? She should have been here by now." The blonde shrugged before taking a drink of her water. "I have no idea, maybe she got sick overnight or something."

Suddenly a black and green blur came dashing onto the training grounds. Once the dust settled, Eri stood panting, her usually silky smooth hair frizzy and uneven. After inspecting closer, Kaori and Ichiba also noticed the dark circles under their teammate's eyes.

"S-sorry….I wa…was….." She stopped to finally catch her breath. "Excuse my tardiness Ryo-sensei, my father fell ill the night before and I've been taking care of him periodically throughout the night."

Team 10's dark-haired sensei sighed and folded her arms across her ample chest.

"Alright Eri, I'll overlook it this time, seeing as your father was ill, but next time don't be late." The blackette bowed graciously again. "Now, run one lap around the entire village, and _no _shortcuts. Now go!"

Both teammates watched as Eri sped off, both very aware of their friend's already exhausted condition. Kaori raised her hand, a habit both genin were still trying to stop.

"Um, are you sure it's ok to let her train today Ryo-sensei? I mean, she looks as if she hasn't slept at all." The older woman's face remained near impassive. "I'm making her train because she signed up to be a shinobi. To be a shinobi means to train even when you have nothing left to train with. It's the same principle in battle. Fight to the very end, even when you're bleeding and your team is dead or missing or injured, you still fight to protect your village and its people."

The "Life and Hazards of a Shinobi" speech shut both children up, leaving nothing more to be said.

_20 Minutes Later_

"Hiya!"

Ichiba quickly ducked to avoid his blonde teammate's leg from knocking him to the ground, using her off-balance to thrust his right elbow into her back, instantly plowing her into the dirt.

Kaori picked herself up and wiped her bloody lip, a low growl emanating from her throat. The white-haired boy grinned and motioned with his hand for her to make a move. She curtly nodded her head and formed a familiar hand sign.

**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**

With a poof three more blondes appeared, all standing in attack positions. The band of Kaori's charged towards Ichiba, while the latter moved to a defensive stance and waited. Finally, a second before contact, one clone changed course and curved around the boy, while another leaped over his head.

_'What is she planning? She's obviously trying to confuse me, but I'm following her every movement. The art of illusion is impossible!'_

Tired of waiting and suspecting an oncoming attack, Ichiba crouched down swiftly and swept the legs of the charging clone, a small cloud of smoke indicating its "death."

Suddenly his vision was filled with blonde hair and fiery aqua orbs, all of which were extinguished quickly and without fault. He waited patently for the dust to clear, expecting to see his feisty teammate on the other side.

"What?"

Ichiba stared in disbelief at the empty field in front of him. No Kaori. _'So, they were all clones? But then how did she-' _In a split second pain was all that filled his thoughts as a foot caught him across the cheek, sending him sliding across the rough ground.

_'That's…impossible!'_

Laughter echoed through his mind as his blonde friend stood laughing. He scowled and rubbed his cheek, hoping to prevent a huge purple bruise from forming. That's when he noticed it; her laughter, it was different.

He stopped and listened intently and heard the difference once again. Her laughter was not the melodic sound he cherished, but a slightly darker, more malicious-sounding laugh. He became worried and observed her warily.

"Hehe, what's the matter Ichi? Can't keep up?" Kaori taunted, unaware her voice had taken on a deeper, more demonic tone. "You're pathetic. I'm embarrassed to even have you as a teammate so why don't you-"

She was cut short by a pair of strong hands on her shoulders, forcing her quickly to the ground. Ichiba grimaced as he held his teammate down with his foot, her eyes glaring daggers at him.

"You little brat!" She growled. "You're gonna pay for that!" Suddenly she lifted her lower body and kicked his body off hers, quickly jumping up into a fighting stance. Her grin sent shivers down his spine.

"So, you wanna play do ya? Well, I'm sure I can _play._" She purred the last word, which sounded half sultry, half murderous. Kaori smirked and pulled out a kunai and charged.

"Kaori wait!" Ichiba shouted as he dodged her thrust, quickly retrieving his own kunai.

"Kaori stop! I don't want to fight you!" He shouted to no avail. Her eyes burned through him and he saw with his own eyes as her eyes went from beautiful pools of aqua to a pair of odd-colored, cat-eye orbs. "Fight back you coward! Show me what you've got!"

Ichiba continued to desperately block all of her attacks, which was becoming increasingly difficult, due to the fact that her demon vision increased her range and scope of vision. Suddenly he felt his legs lift up from under him as she swept his legs, his body falling to the ground roughly. Kaori smirked, her canines unusually sharp.

"Looks like you lose…" She lowered her head and whispered into his ear softly. "…Ichiba Kaizen." His eyes widened in honest fear, fear that he couldn't stop her from losing herself to the demon within her. Fear that he had failed and couldn't do anything to help her. Fear that he would never get the chance to tell her how he felt.

Kaori raised her kunai and with a mad smile on her face, brought it down upon her teammate's neck. It all went by in slow motion; the kunai slowly approaching him, his heartbeat as he knew his death would be today. He closed his eyes at the last second, not wanting to show how frightened he really was.

Seconds passed and nothing seemed to have changed. Ichiba slowly opened his eyes and let out a gasp of surprise and fear. The kunai was hovering _very_ close to his neck, the realization causing his heart to race once again. His dark eyes locked onto a pair of aqua orbs that were overflowing with emotions.

"…I-Ichi I…I-I didn't mean to….Oh Kami…." She stuttered as her whole body began to tremble from the shock of the situation. A second passed before she realized the deadly weapon she held and was quick to toss it as far away as possible. The blonde grabbed her head and shook it fiercely, trying to make sense of it all.

Ichiba felt a tug in his heart as he witnessed his best friend and teammate go into shock. He tried to wiggle from under Kaori, whose legs were pinning him to the ground from his lower abdominal region to his legs. "Um…Kaori? I can't get up."

She looked up suddenly, her eyes wild. "Oh! O-oh I'm so-so sorry! I-I just…" She continued to stutter as she got up and fell to her knees not far away. "Kaori!" The white-haired boy leaped up and wrapped his arms securely around her body, her head cradled under the crook of his neck as he whispered soothing words.

"I-Ichiba…did….did I really try to kill you?" She whispered, as if she were afraid the world might hear. He rubbed her back gently and pulled her onto his lap. "…Yes. You did but-" He was interrupted by her hand suddenly reaching down and grabbing one of his kunai, her hand pointing it towards her neck. Ichiba swiftly grasped her wrist, stopping the deadly weapon an inch from her throat. He wrestled the kunai from her grasp and tossed it into a nearby tree.

"Kaori! Why? Why would you do that?" He turned her towards him, her frightened face breaking his heart. "Because I'm a monster! All I can ever do is cause others pain and death!" She yelled as tears began to stream down her cheeks while she tried to wrestle herself from her teammate's arms. "No! Listen to me Kaori! You. Are. Not. A. Monster! Got it?"

She turned her head away from him, and he hooked a finger under her chin and slowly brought her gaze back to him. "Kaori, you are a wonderful person. You're smart and a much better fighter than I am." At this she let out a tiny giggle. "You know what to do if someone needs help and you don't ever hesitate to offer your assistance." He paused and diverted his gaze, arousing her curiosity. "Ichiba? W-What is it?"

He slowly looked into her eyes that he so cherished and felt as if time had stopped. His heart began to quicken as he realized just how _close _her face was to his. _'C'mon you wimp! What are you waiting for? Just do it! Kiss her!' _He gulped and opened his mouth to speak again. "You…you're very beautiful…" He muttered the word "beautiful" but the blonde still caught it. Her eyes widened and a smile crept up her lips. "No one's ever called me…beautiful before…" She began to feel light-headed and leaned against her friend's chest, her eyes slowly closing. The feel of his hands on her back and his arms around her soothed her, until she felt very drowsy. Before she drifted off, she whispered something only Ichiba could hear.

"You win Ichi…"

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><p>Whew! Sorry this took months to finish. I was having a mixture of writers block school starting and all kinds of stuff. But here it is and I hope you guys all like it!

I tried to make Kaori being temporarily possessed by the Two Tails brief because I wanted to show that she is slowly getting better at controlling the Two Tails.

Review please! B3


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters. **

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><p>Eri held her arms over her head to help steady her breathing after a very long, very tiring lap. She had stopped where she had first watched her teammates sparring.<p>

_'Man I've got to get in shape, my sides are on fire and that was only one lap!' _

She thought back to the first week of their training with Ryo-sensei. It had been brutal and seemed to never end, leaving them almost too tired and battered to limp home. However, Eri had quickly noticed that Kaori was not nearly as exhausted as she and Ichiba were. In fact, the only exhaustion the blonde experienced was from too much running or sparring. Never once had she collapsed due to chakra exhaustion, unlike her fellow teammates.

_Flashback_

_"All right team, today I will teach you the art of water walking and tree climbing." Ryo-sensei stood with one hand resting on her hip, the other twirling a kunai lazily. _

_Kaori hand shot up, "Pardon me sensei, but aren't those just other methods of chakra control?"_

_Ryo nodded, "Well yes they are, but these two can prove quite helpful and at times essential, especially on missions." The three genin exchanged looks before nodding simultaneously. _

_After explaining the two exercises, it was decided that they would first work on their tree climbing skills. At first, Ichiba had questioned why they needed to practice when they all knew how to climb trees._

_The sly woman chuckled, "Yes, but do you know how to climb a tree without using your hands?" This had puzzled the group until a light bulb seemed to go off in Kaori's mind._

_"Chakra! Right?" Ryo praised her and further explained the gist of the exercise. _

_About ten minutes later Kaori had already reached the tip of the pine tree she had selected, while Ichiba and Eri were just now reaching the midline of their trees. Kaori was so tempted to boast, but remained respectful and practiced meditating while balancing on the topmost branch of the tree. Team 10's sensei had moved to her own tree and was quietly observing her students. She had been fairly impressed that Kaori had already made it to the top, but reminded herself that she was a jinchuriki and therefore had much more chakra than the other genin. _

_'Still, it's amazing that she has such fine control over her chakra, given that her chakra is also mixed with that of the Two Tails.' After observing her other two students she realized that they were low on chakra and were tiring. _

_"All right that's enough for now. Ichiba, Eri, you two did very well for your first time." She smiled. "Kaori, I am surprised you were able to scale that tree so quickly, care to explain your method? Maybe your fellow teammates could benefit from it."_

_Eri couldn't help but feel a bit insulted, but she forced it down when she saw Kaori scratch her cheek nervously. "Oh, well it really wasn't anything special…I just focused half of my chakra to my feet and the other half to my hands." Even Ryo's eyebrows were raised in surprise._

_"Why your hands Kaori?" The blonde shrugged and avoided her friend's gazes. "I…I sent chakra to my hands so that whenever my control slipped from my feet I could quickly focus on my hands and basically flip my body forward-or upward I guess." _

_Honestly, the jounin was surprised by how creative her student was. 'I've never heard of that kind of move…I'm impressed.'_

_She was brought out of her thoughts when Ichiba and Eri collapsed suddenly, Kaori by their sides in a heartbeat. "What's wrong with them sensei? Why are they unconscious?" _

_"Calm down, they are just suffering from chakra exhaustion. They will be fine once they rest for a while." The blonde girl seemed troubled and looked back at her friends. "How come I'm not unconscious?" Ryo crouched next to her student and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's because you simply have a much larger chakra store than most genin."_

_The look Kaori's face adorned worried Ryo greatly. "It's because of the Two Tails right?" The woman merely nodded and picked up both unconscious genin and placed them against two large boulders, while Kaori seemed to be concentrating on something. _

_One hour later Eri opened her eyes to see the same landscape from earlier. "Hey…Ichiba, what happened?" The white haired boy groaned and rubbed his head, "Sorry Eri, I don't really know. I think we must've passed out or something."_

_They stood and stretched, quickly spotting their sensei meditating atop a large rock. "Ah so you two have woken up, good." She smiled and leaped down. "I was afraid I'd have to disappoint Kaori and cancel our water walking exercise for the day."_

_Again, Eri felt as if her sensei were insulting the strength of herself and Ichiba. "Hey, speaking of Neko-chan, where is she?" Ichiba asked._

_Their sensei merely looked up, followed by her students, whose mouths dropped open in surprise. Kaori was scaling tree after tree, but then would switch trees and leap from branch to branch, usually landing on all fours. "B-but how?" The two muttered. Ryo called out to the blonde, who turned and jogged over, her brow having only two small beads of sweat running down it. "Hey you guys woke up! Now we can practice water walking, right Ryo-sensei?"_

_She nodded and the group walked to a nearby lake, the three students listening intently to their instructions. Ichiba went first, taking a deep breath before cautiously putting out a foot onto the surface of the water. He grinned when his foot did not sink into the water and he quickly made his way to the center of the lake, smiling triumphantly and making bets on who'll get wet first. Eri was a little shaky at first, her toes dipping into the water ever so slightly, but with help from Ryo she too was standing in the center of the lake, calling out for the blonde to hurry up._

_Kaori closed her eyes and blocked out her surroundings, focusing all her chakra to her feet. When she opened her eyes she tentatively stepped onto the water, her feet staying dry and solid. 'This isn't so hard.' The blonde continued to walk across the water, her smile growing, when her body suddenly froze. 'Wha-what's going on? Why can't I move?' Her vision darkened and in a heartbeat she was standing before the Two Tail's sealed cage. _

_No words were exchanged but Kaori immediately understood the look in the Demon's eyes. The Two Tails despised water with a burning passion, even if she wasn't coming in contact with it, she refused to allow her jailor to walk across its surface. Struggling with the Two Tails divided Kaori's attention and with a yelp she fell through into the freezing water. Ichiba and Eri burst into laughter, while Kaori's head broke the surface, her eyes wide with surprise, Ryo observed her student with mild shock. 'Why did she have trouble with this exercise? It's practically the same as the tree climbing routine.' Eri and Ichiba continued to laugh, knowing they now had something to talk about after training._

_End Flashback_

Eri stretched her legs and stood, her mouth set in a loose frown. _'Well, no point in staying here, otherwise Ryo-sensei will have my head.' _The clashing of metal and the sound of struggling surprised Eri, her curiosity leading her to another empty clearing, but this time her teammates were there.

_'What are those two doing?' _She wondered. She gasped softly when Kaori's twisted laugh rang from the clearing. Eri prepared herself to jump to Ichiba's rescue if he needed it, and was shocked to see him beaten down by the blonde jinchuriki as if it were nothing.

"Kaori please! I don't want to fight you!" Ichiba yelled desperately as he blocked Kaori's deadly slashes with a kunai.

_'What's wrong with her? Why is she attacking Ichiba?' _Eri's eyes widened in realization and her knees shook. _'Is it the Two Tails?' _She felt her body begin to move forward as Kaori pinned the boy down and prepared to slice his throat. However, she was held back by a strong hand, which turned out to be none other than Team 10's sensei.

"Sensei!" Eri whispered frantically. "We have to save him!" The jounin did not respond but instead looked on, observing the blonde intently. Eri was still confused but followed her teacher's example and simply watched. She forced her eyes to stay open as the kunai neared her friend's throat, and gasped when it stopped suddenly.

Both watched as Kaori came back to her senses and was comforted by Ichiba as she burst into tears.

"Sensei? Shouldn't we-"

"No."

Eri looked at the woman in surprise. "But-"

"We must let them sort this out on their own, especially Kaori. Our interference will only make Kaori more fearful and she will retreat into herself, away from everyone she ever cared about."

The black-haired girl was silent and followed her sensei out of the trees and into a clearing that overlook part of the village. "Um…sensei, what did you mean by Kaori becoming fearful? It doesn't make any sense."

The dark-haired woman sighed and turned to face her student. "If we were to go out there, then it would become obvious that we had witnessed her loss of control over the Two Tails."

Eri suddenly felt as if a great weight had been slammed onto her shoulders as the realization of her teacher's words dawned on her.

"Kaori would instantly feel as if she was incapable of having friends. She would feel that she is too dangerous to be around others and would kill anyone if she were given the chance. She would feel as if she were the Two Tails herself and would literally lock herself away in her mind in order to protect those around her." Ryo looked up at the cloudy sky sadly.

"In other words…" Eri looked down. "Kaori would kill herself, both mentally and physically to protect those close to her, even if they treated her like trash."

Eri was silent, but inside she was berating herself for acting so cruel to Kaori in the past. She hated herself for how she had treated her friend, and now knowing what she would do if Kaori were to ever know that she'd seen what had almost happened…

The bushes rustled and Ichiba appeared with a somewhat fragile-looking Kaori behind him. "Hey guys, where have you been?" Eri glanced at her sensei and was surprised by how quickly she had gone from serious to casual. "Well Eri and I were just talking about the weather and how it might affect your training."

Ichiba raised an eyebrow and looked to Eri for confirmation. She just shrugged and took a quick glance at Kaori before returning her gaze to her sensei.

"Aw don't tell me you're gonna cancel our sparring! I haven't gotten to beat Eri yet!" Ryo chuckled and checked the skies once more. "Well, I guess the weather is good enough for some more sparring matches. After all, you three all have something to improve concerning your taijutsu."

They all smiled, but Ryo noticed that Kaori's smile didn't seem to reach her eyes. _'Speaking of eyes…'_

"Ichiba, Eri, I want you two to start off the first match. I'd like to speak with Kaori briefly on her performance earlier." The blonde's head snapped to face her sensei, confusion filling her aqua orbs. Ichiba hesitated but was coaxed by Eri to just leave them, the two heading into a nearby clearing to begin their spar.

Kaori stood a few steps away from her sensei, her aura radiating confusion and a small bit of fear. After what seemed like ages, Ryo broke the silence.

"So, Kaori. Care to explain that henge you always have up over your eyes?"

The blonde jinchuriki froze, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Her lips parted in a silent gasp as her eyes met her sensei's, her body trembling slightly.

"W-what are y-you t-talking about sensei?" The older woman seemed to grow angry by the blonde's reply.

"Don't lie to me Kaori." She put a gentle hand on Kaori's shoulder and smiled softly. "Please tell me, maybe I can help."

The blonde almost scoffed under her breath, knowing full well there was nothing anyone could do. Still, it felt nice to know someone wanted to change her fate.

"…I-I use it to hide my eyes…" There. It was out. But how would her teacher respond to her unique and frightening birthmark?

Ryo got down to her student's level and looked into her eyes. "Why do you hide your eyes? They are so beautiful and-"

"No!" Kaori's outburst felt like a slap to the face for the older woman.

"These damned eyes of mine are NOT beautiful! They are what marks me as different, they are a part of my curse that allows everyone to immediately know what I am!"

She hated yelling at her sensei, but calling her eyes beautiful was considered a sin in Kaori's book.

"But they _are _Kaori. Why do you try to hide them? Everyone will accept you, no matter what you look like."

The blonde girl averted her gaze to the grass and was silent for a minute until she finally spoke. "…That's a lie."

Ryo felt a wave of sadness wash over her from the girl and felt her own sadness rise up.

Kaori hesitated but then look her sensei straight in the eyes. Without a word she released her henge and blinked. Ryo's gaze never left her student's and she couldn't help but let out a tiny gasp when Kaori's true eyes were revealed.

They were the same color, a beautifully shaded color of aqua, but it also had more green in it than blue. However, the true difference was the girl's pupils. They were slits, similar to that of a cat's.

"Go ahead. Don't try to hide it." The blonde's intense gaze perturbed Ryo. It felt as if something else was looking at her. Picking her apart, leaving nothing left to hide.

"I know you're scared. I know that you fear me." The girl gritted her teeth, her abnormally pointed canines another sign of her being a jinchuriki.

Ryo felt her heart break as tears began to run down her student's face, "Kaori…you're both right and wrong."

The blonde's cat-like eyes widened, "You are right that I am frightened." Kaori's gaze began to slowly drift to the grass. "But you are also wrong. I do not fear _you, _Kaori."

Kaori stared at her sensei for a long time, her mind trying to process the words she'd just heard. "W-what?" She stuttered. "Sensei I-I don't understand."

Her sensei smiled softly and embraced her, whispering into her ear. "I don't fear _you, _Kaori. The only thing I fear is losing my students and all those close to me." She felt tears beginning to form as her student suddenly wrapped her arms around her body. The muffled sound of sobs tugging at the woman's heartstrings.

Student and teacher sat there together for a long while, the young jinchuriki finding temporary peace within the embrace of her sensei. The teacher finding a greater sense of duty towards her student, finally realizing the tolls of being a jinchuriki. An hour passed and neither had moved a single muscle, other than the occasional rubbing of the shoulder. When Ryo detected the sounds of her other approaching students, she was quick to collect herself and help Kaori up.

"Ryo-sensei! Guess what?" Eri exclaimed happily. "I beat Ichiba! He won the first match, but I beat him the last two matches!"

Ichiba could clearly see something was on his sensei's mind, especially when her congratulating smile did not reach her eyes. "Hey Kaori, wanna spar real quick before heading home?"

The blonde was facing away from her teammates, her henge once again shielding her true eyes from the world. She looked over her shoulder and replied, "Maybe tomorrow Eri. I uh, don't feel very well all of a sudden."

She caught her sensei's disapproving gaze and looked up at the now golden sky and was quiet for a moment. "Oh…ok. Well, I guess we'll see each other tomorrow." The blackette nodded to her white-haired friend and headed towards the village alone.

"Wait." The word echoed over the hill and was lost in the evening breeze. Eri turned and saw her friend's face, surprised by how tired yet strong it appeared. "I haven't gotten to spar with you in awhile Nuka." She smirked. "It would be unfair to postpone this any longer."

Eri grinned happily and jogged over to her friend, wrapping an arm around the blonde's shoulder and leading them to a clearing. Ichiba smiled and looked at his sensei questioningly. "Sensei, is something wrong?" Ryo shook her head and stepped towards the two retreating figures. "No, Ichiba. Everything is fine. Let's just go and see which one will go down first."

The boy chuckled, even though inside he was scowling at his sensei's apparent lie. "Any bets?" The dark-haired woman smirked. "I've got my money on Kaori." Ichiba pretended to scoff and replied, "I'm bettin' on Eri, she's got some killer moves that I had some trouble keeping up with." Ryo raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Well we'll have to see about that."

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><p><em>1Hour Later-Ichiraku's<em>

"Hey Sakura-chan, could you pass the chopsticks please?"

The pinkette nodded and handed the blonde a pair of chopsticks, his grateful smile never leaving his face. "Thanks."

The two ate their meal in silence, both providing comfortable nests for Tori to rest in. After a few more moments of silence, Naruto stopped to ask, "Hey Sakura-chan…would you like me to teach you the Shadow Clone technique tomorrow?"

Sakura paused to think, "Sure, I would like that." Her smile lifted the boy's spirits. "Great! I just know you'll get the hang of it!"

They finished their meal and after almost ten minutes of arguing, Naruto paid the bill and offered to walk his friend home. Sakura almost refused at first, but then she smiled and accepted his offer. It was a quiet night in Konoha, barely anyone was roaming the streets, and it was also surprisingly dark despite the streetlights. Tori chirped nervously but quieted down once Sakura comforted him. The two engaged in small talk, mostly about Naruto and his training.

"So Naruto, how many clones do you think you can make?" The blonde put his hands behind his head. "Uh, I guess around 30-50, but I've never really bothered to try and see exactly how many I can make all at once." He blinked. "I usually just create them and that's it."

The pinkette nodded and looked up to spy a lone star in the sky, careful not to knock off the little blue bird. "Do you ever just…wish you could be someone else? Someone…different than yourself?"

Naruto gave her a confused look, "Well I've never really considered it. I mean…" He stopped to look up at the same star. "Why would you want to be someone or something you're not? It sounds kinda boring if ya ask me."

His teammate's eyes widened. "But…what if nobody liked who you were?" She narrowed her eyes sadly, bitter memories resurfacing. "What if…what if you were an outcast?"

The blonde felt a dull pain within his chest and fought to keep the memories away. _'Why are you asking these things Sakura?' _He wondered sadly. _'You didn't grow up like I did.'_

Sakura opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off. "I don't believe that a person should try to change to satisfy other people." He returned her gaze. "If someone is left out of everything…treated as if they don't matter…" The blonde closed his eyes and allowed a quick memory to flash into his mind before quickly disappearing. When he reopened his eyes, they were brighter than before and glimmering with determination. "Then that person must fight to change what those people think of them. They must not give in to the hurtful words, but use them as inspiration to prove those same people wrong."

Her lips were parted slightly in awe. Naruto's words began to sink in and she felt as if she had just learned the most important lesson in the world. _'Prove myself? How could I?' _She shook her head. _'No. I could've changed what other people thought of me. I was just…too scared.'_

Before she could reply, they had arrived at her house. He turned towards her and flashed a warm smile, "Home sweet home eh?" She felt a mysterious pang in her chest but brushed it off. She waved and walked up the porch steps, when she had the sudden impulse to turn and run back. She obeyed her body's command and jogged back onto the street, calling out Naruto's name. He turned around surprised and wondered what she could want.

Before he could ask, Sakura enveloped the blonde into a gentle embrace, her warmth spreading the most wondrous feeling throughout the boy's body. He froze temporarily as her lips came close to his ear. "Thank you, Naruto."

He numbly returned the hug and when she began to pull away he leaned close and whispered, "No, thank you…Sakura-chan."

When they separated, both waving goodbye once more, they each felt as if they had suddenly found something wonderful. What it was they did not yet know, but as their bodies fell onto their separate beds, both were asking themselves the same question.

_'Why is my heart beating this way?'_

The next morning was a bit different than previous ones for Team 7. Sakura had to make sure Tori did not follow her to meet up with her team. Instead, the little bird kept Sakura's mother company, which helped ease the woman's nerves. When they all met up with their tardy sensei, he announced that they were to report to the Hokage's office immediately. Sakura questioned the man who only shook his head and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto muttered something under his breath that neither Sakura nor Sasuke could catch before they sped off towards the Hokage's office. Sakura couldn't help but notice the sneers on some of the civilian's faces as Naruto sped through the crowds, careful not to knock anyone over. Sasuke was silent as always and eventually sped ahead via the rooftops, abandoning his teammates.

_'Selfish jerk! I can't believe I used to worship the ground he walked on!' _

Her bitter thoughts almost got her into trouble as she failed to notice the large vegetable cart ahead. "Watch out Sakura-chan!"

Before she could react, her body was lifted up into the air by a pair of small, yet surprisingly strong arms. Naruto grinned when he landed on the nearest rooftop, making Sakura's heart flutter in her chest.

"That could've been bad. You could've gotten hurt." The worry in his voice was hidden by his smile, but she could detect it through his eyes.

The pinkette thanked him and opened her mouth to ask for him to put her down when the hushed growls of the civilians reached her ears. "Well so much for her, she's nothin' but fresh meat now."

A man snorted in agreement. "Better her than us. I feel sorry for whoever's girl that is, seeing as she's just gonna be the Demon's whore now."

Sakura bit her lip as she felt her blood boil. These people were talking just loud enough for her AND Naruto to hear. They wanted him to hear.

"Poor thing. One day this village will be rid of that cursed fox-boy and we will no longer have to fear for our children."

The girl's grip on the blonde tightened significantly as did his. Now the bastards were looking right at them, scorn and disgust written all over their faces. Sakura suddenly felt the urge to leap down there and punch every single one of them, maybe even break a few bones.

_'No, I can't do that no matter how much I want to.'_

_**Aw c'mon! Those assholes are insulting both of you! Naruto-kun doesn't deserve it and you know it!**_

Sakura shook her head. _'No, I may not know why they call Naruto a demon, but going down there to beat them up will not solve anything.'_

Her inner retreated with a growl and left Sakura to deal with a certain blonde.

"Naruto." She placed her hand over his heart, causing his gaze to meet hers. "Don't listen to them. Their words mean nothing."

He took in her words and the steeled gaze of his teammate. "Yeah...you're right." She smiled a bit and stepped out of his arms. He admitted to himself that he missed holding her in his arms. It made him feel so happy and complete. As he turned towards the Hokage tower, he felt a sudden weight drop on his back, causing him to stumble a bit. When he turned his head he saw Sakura's face merely inches away.

"I was hoping maybe you could…carry me there?" She blushed a bit. "Ya know, for fun?" Naruto gulped and fought to control the blush that threatened to spread across his entire face. "Uh s-sure S-Sakura-chan." His response earned him a giggle, which caused his heart to speed up.

Neither spoke on the short journey to the tower, both just enjoying this single moment together. Once they reached their destination, Sakura hopped off Naruto's back and headed in with the blonde close behind her. When she knocked on the Hokage's door, a quick "come in" was heard and the two stepped inside.

Kakashi eyed the two. "What took so long?" Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but a glance from Sakura told him it would be better for her to explain. He shot a look at the lone Uchiha, who narrowed his onyx eyes challengingly.

"So you see, it was my clumsiness that resulted in our tardiness." She bowed her head respectfully, grabbing Naruto's hair and yanking it down in an awkward bow.

The aging Hokage smirked ever so slightly. "It's quite alright my dear, I only called you up here to assign a new mission." Kakashi sweat-dropped as Naruto's head shot up and he began to loudly protest. "No! I'm tired of D rank missions old man! Give me-" He gestured to his teammates. "Give us a better ranked mission! You know we can handle it so stop holdin' out on us!"

Sakura's immediate reaction was to pound the idiot for his disrespectful outburst. But when she saw the look in his eyes she decided against it and backed up her friend. "I agree with Naruto, we are more than capable of C rank missions." The look Naruto gave her made her feel that she had done the right thing.

Sasuke said nothing, but he agreed with the two. If he wanted to become powerful enough to defeat his older brother, he needed to be pushed to his limits and tested. Although Itachi had told him his hate alone would be enough to defeat him, Sasuke knew that he also needed to train until he was strong enough in order defeat Itachi.

Sarutobi sighed and looked at Kakashi. "Well Kakashi, do you think your team is ready?" The silver-haired jounin closed his eye for a moment. "Yes Lord Hokage, I believe in my students ability to properly handle a more difficult mission."

The old man nodded and looked to the three genin. "Very well then, I have a C rank mission that is perfect for this team." He looked towards the door and called out a strange name. A few seconds later, a drunk man stumbled into the doorway, a bottle of sake in his hand. He squinted at the three, mainly Sakura.

"Hey there cutie." He smiled drunkenly, "What's a pretty piece like you doin'-hic-here?" Sakura took a step back from the strange man. "Aw c'mon I aint -hic- gonna hurt ya."

Before the man could take another step, Naruto stepped between Sakura and the man, growling angrily. "Leave her alone you drunk old man!" The drunk scrutinized the blonde for a moment before scoffing. "Is this what I –hic- hired? A blonde pipsqueak?" Naruto clenched his fist and pointed at the man, "Hey! Who are you calling a pipsqueak? I'm gonna be Hokage one day and when that happens you'll wish you never made fun of my height!"

The two bickered back and forth, until the Hokage slammed his fist down onto his desk and ordered for silence. Team 7 was hired to escort the bridge builder Tazuna safely to the Land of Waves. Kakashi rubbed Naruto and Sasuke's heads and smiled, "Don't worry, I'll keep them in check." Sarutobi nodded with a confidant smile. "I know you will, take care all of you. I hope to see you back safely."

_10 Minutes Later_

"Hurry up Naruto!" The pink-haired girl huffed. Her blonde teammate jogged up and smiled, "Sorry Sakura-chan. I just had to make sure I didn't forget anything."

She shook her head and joked about his ability to tell time, which earned her a mock frown and a surprise tickle. "EEK! NARUTO DON'T DO THAT!" He chuckled and walked over to where Sasuke stood. "Oi, Teme. You aren't gonna abandon us this time right?"

Kakashi looked up from his Icha Icha book and listened intently. The Uchiha boy snorted, "I don't know what you're talking about, dobe." Before more could be said, a high-pitched chirping sound flitted around the group. Naruto laughed as Tori plopped onto Sasuke's head and began to ruffle the boy's hair. "Hahaha! You look ridiculous! Good job Tori!" Against her usual proper nature, Sakura burst into laughter with her blonde teammate, both falling to the ground rolling with laughter.

Sasuke swatted at the bird angrily, "Get out of my hair you damn bird!" Tori squawked and flitted around the boy's head, pecking his hands and chirping angrily. "Dammit bird!"

Naruto and Sakura were laughing so hard they had tears coming out of their eyes and even Kakashi was chuckling to himself, his book temporarily forgotten.

_'These three remind me so much of my old team.' _He sighed. _'We can't waste much more time. That bridge builder is impatient…but I want them to enjoy these last moments. I have a bad feeling they will confront danger and will lose that precious innocence.'_

By now Tazuna was shouting at all three of the genin to hurry up. "Get up you brats! I don't have all day!" The man looked to Kakashi irritably. "Control these students of yours so we can move out!" Kakashi did not reply but instead called out for silence. Naruto and Sakura's laughter died down to whispered chuckles, Sasuke's cursing stopped abruptly, and even Tori's angry chirps cut off. "Listen, this mission is much more serious and dangerous than any of your previous missions. You may face dangerous bandits or even enemy nin, you may even have to kill." Sakura's blood turned cold and she hoped no one could see her shaking knees.

_'Kill? But…what if I can't do it?' _She glanced at Naruto and Sasuke. _'What if I'm not strong enough?' _

Before her inner could interject, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Sakura-chan, I won't let anyone hurt you. Believe it!" She smiled warmly and held out her fist. "I believe you. I won't let anyone hurt you either Naruto, you can count on it." The blonde grinned, "Together, we'll protect each other. Even the Te- I mean Sasuke." He stuck out his fist and bumped it against hers.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the two, but inside he couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit grateful to be included. He would never admit it, but he was beginning to think his team might not be so bad, except for the bird of course. "If you're quite finished, I believe our client would like to return home now." The three genin nodded and fell into formation around Tazuna, neither looking back at the village.

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><p>Hey guys! I worked really hard on this chapter and even made it extra long! Just for you! :D I think this chapter might just be the longest chapter for any of my fics so far. ^_^<p>

Please review! Sorry, no reward for reviewing this time. 3


	8. Chapter 8

***Note* Just wanted to clear up how I have written Kaori's name to be pronounced. Kay-or-ee. It is usually pronounced Cow-ree, but I imagined in my head as Kay-or-ee. Pronounce it how you like. X3**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters. I only own my OC Kaori and any other OC's in this story. **

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><p>Tori had decided to settle in Naruto's hair once more, which reminded him of something. "Hey Sakura-chan."<p>

She glanced at him. "Hm?"

"Do you think we should have let Tori come along? I mean, what if he gets lost or hurt?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, I told him about our mission and I just hoped he would stay with my parents while I was gone."

Naruto sighed and looked at the sky. "Well, I guess we're stuck with him now huh? Maybe he'll be useful." Sakura arched an eyebrow. "I'm serious! Maybe he could be like a little decoy and make a distraction so we can attack and not be countered."

The pinkette was a bit surprised by her friend's thinking, but she knew that he had been reading more about battle tactics since they had become friends again. "All right, if you say so. We'll have to train with him I suppose, especially with Sasuke." She gestured to the Uchiha. "Tori needs to cool his temper with Sasuke so they'll work together."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Are you serious? You want me to work with that blasted bird AND you two?" He didn't see the obvious hurt in his teammate's eyes. "That's just torture. A bird can't be trained, just like you two can't ever be anything more than weak, useless-"

WHAM!

Kakashi and Tazuna whirled around to see Sasuke nowhere in sight, while Naruto stood as if he had just punched something, with Sakura behind him. "Don't. You. EVER. Call Sakura-chan that!" Everyone's eyes widened.

'_Naruto…why are you so concerned for me? He insulted you too! Don't let him treat you like this!'_

_**CHA! That ass-hole's gonna pay for that! No one treats Naruto-kun like that!**_

Sakura's fists clenched tightly, her fingernails digging into her palms, threatening to draw blood. "It's ok, Naruto. I'm fine, don't worry about me."

The furious blonde lowered his fist and returned her steeled gaze. "No! I'm not going to let that stuck up jerk call you useless!" She noticed his mysterious whisker marks looked more defined and for a moment she thought his eyes were red. Tori chirped nervously and landed on Kakashi's head.

"Naruto…" Sakura placed a cool hand on his whiskered cheek, her eyes locking with his. "Please don't forget about yourself. Remember what I told you earlier?"

He lowered his gaze to her arm, his shoulders slumped and his eyes shimmering slightly. "Don't take the villagers' words to heart, it's the same with Sasuke." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I have already begun to train myself to block out Sasuke's comments about my abilities, now you must do the same."

Before he could reply, Sasuke got up from his position, his back sore from having been punched straight into a tree. He glared daggers at Naruto's head and charged forward, a kunai in his hand. Sakura saw Sasuke first and almost froze when she saw the kunai. Naruto turned and noticed Sasuke too late; his body froze as the weapon glinted in the sunlight.

A few seconds before Sasuke struck, the body of Sakura was between the boys, a kunai in her hand as well.

"Sakura!"

The sound of metal hitting metal rang out, and Tazuna felt a bit of concern for the brats. When the small cloud of dust cleared, everyone gasped in surprise. Kakashi had intercepted the blow meant for Naruto and Sakura, the kunai meeting with his metal wrist guard. Sasuke's eyes widened in fear as his sensei's lone eye seemed to hold so much anger. Sakura stood paralyzed, her kunai poised to deflect Sasuke's attack. Naruto trembled, his heart pounding in his chest.

'_Sasuke…tried to hurt me. He…Sakura got in the way…to protect me!' _He felt tears in the corner of his eyes. _'She could've gotten hurt…because of me! And Kakashi-sensei…'_

"Ka-Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura started. The silver-haired jounin did not reply, instead he pushed back Sasuke and stood tall, extreme anger and disappointment radiating from his body. "What has gotten into you Sasuke? Do you not value the lives of your teammates?" His voice grew louder and Sakura found herself leaning closer to Naruto, who just barely registered her body's proximity.

Sasuke looked and felt more terrified than he had in a _very _long time. "I-I…sensei I-" He was cut off as Kakashi's hand slapped across his face, knocking him to the ground.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Cried Naruto and Sakura, both shocked by their sensei's actions.

Tazuna did not flinch as Tori landed on his head, chirping and twittering nervously. _'These kids…they've got one hell of a sensei.' _ Sasuke raised his head and fought back a vicious urge to punch his sensei back and slowly got to his feet. He felt himself lifted into the air by his collar, his onyx eyes looking into Kakashi's single eye. "I'm honestly disappointed in you, Sasuke. I'd heard so many good things about you from the council, but I guess they were just empty words."

The area was silent and the atmosphere was thick with tension. "I-I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei…" Sasuke finally began. "I let my anger control me. I swear it won't happen again." He looked over to his teammates briefly.

"Don't swear anything, Uchiha." He put Sasuke down and walked stiffly towards Tazuna and looked over his shoulder. "It's very unwise to swear to something you will not honor."

The three genin said no more and quietly shuffled into formation around Tazuna. Nothing was said until the sky began to darken and Kakashi called for them to stop. "We will rest here for the night. I want you three to go and gather firewood and any game if you see any."

Naruto didn't feel like stopping, in fact he wasn't really even tired. Sakura explained to him in a hushed tone that Tazuna was not a shinobi and therefore got tired much quicker than they did. The blonde blinked and said, "Ohhhh."

Kakashi helped Tazuna set up camp, trusting in his students to not screw anything up by fighting again. Luckily, he noticed Naruto and Sakura go off together in one direction, and Sasuke in another. _'Oh Kami, what am I going to do with these three?'_

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><p>Sasuke muttered darkly to himself as he tromped through the woods, not really caring if he ran into any animals, dangerous or not. "Those two keep interfering! I would have never gotten in trouble with Kakashi if they'd just stayed quiet." He kicked a rock. "Or better yet, stayed at the academy." He didn't notice the large spider web until his face was covered with the silky substance. He tore it off his face, checking over himself to make sure the spider had not been on the web. He cursed the woods and "tried" to find firewood.<p>

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sakura already had armfuls of sticks and began to chat. "Um…Sakura-chan. About earlier…" He bent to pick up another stick, trying to avoid the girl's gaze. "You…you stepped in between Sasuke and I and…well…. I wanted to ask why."

She looked away and allowed a ladybug to rest on her outstretched finger. She focused her gaze on the bug, but faced her body towards Naruto. "Well, I…" She paused. "I did it because you're my friend, Naruto." She tentatively looked at him and her emerald gaze locked with his cerulean orbs.

"My…friend?" He whispered. She blushed faintly and approached him, the little bug still resting on her finger. He watched her, dazed, as she stopped less than an arm's length away. She smiled sweetly at him and reached for his hand, which he allowed her to take in her own. Sakura lifted his hand and pointed the finger that carried the ladybug towards the back of his hand, the tiny critter crawling eagerly onto the new perch. Naruto stared at the small thing, a smile creeping across his lips.

Sakura took in her blonde teammate, her smile never leaving her face as she observed his reaction to the little bug. If one were to see the look in her eyes as she gazed at the blonde, they would immediately assume she held feelings for the boy.

After a few more moments the ladybug fluttered it's hidden wings and buzzed away, leaving the two alone. It was at that moment he noticed Sakura's gaze and when both pairs of eyes met sparks seemed to go off in their minds.

'_What is this feeling? Am I really falling for Naruto?' _

'_Sakura-chan is looking at me so weird….it's giving me this strange feeling in my stomach…'_

The Kyuubi rolled his blood red eyes at his jailor's thick-headedness.

It was Sakura who broke the entranced stare, blinking and stumbling backwards awkwardly. "Um…I think we've collected enough firewood. Let's head back to Kakashi-sensei and the others." Naruto felt a slight pang in his chest but simply nodded and gathered up his pile of twigs and sticks, following after the only girl who ever caught his heart.

Tori chose to nestle in Kakashi's silver hair while he finished up camp, his passenger finding his new nest quite comfy. "So, you think those brats are fit to be shinobi huh?" The bridge-builder asked casually, his tone holding a different meaning to his words.

"Of course, they may seem a bit rough around the edges now, but they've only been a team for about a month."

Tazuna raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'you're kidding right?'

"Do you not trust in my team to protect you?"

"Well, to be honest….no." Kakashi's eye narrowed.

"First off, that puny blonde kid is loud and overly obnoxious, that just makes it easier for the enemy to find us and me." Tori ruffled his feathers in contempt at the man's words.

"And what's with the orange? A blind bandit could spot that kid a mile away!" Kakashi didn't reply. "Second, that pink-haired girl is definitely the weakest link of the team. Her hair is another major set-off for enemy attacks, her temper is short and could easily be manipulated." Tazuna took off his glasses and nonchalantly cleaned them on his shirt before continuing.

"Then there's the Uchiha kid. He obviously doesn't give a damn about his teammates and I can guarantee you if we come across any of Gato's henchmen he'll be sure to leave them behind and not look back."

The silver-haired jounin's fists were tightly clenched by now, his body rigid and tense. Then the last sentence of the bridge-builder came to him. "What do you mean 'Gato's henchmen?' I thought this was only an escort mission?"

Before the old man could cover up his blunder, the nearby bushes rustled to reveal his students, each carrying an armful of wood. "We found the wood Kakashi-sensei, but we didn't see any game to catch." The jounin stiffly nodded his head and motioned for them to arrange the sticks into the small dirt hole he dug earlier. Kakashi shot the bridge-builder a glare before facing the pile of sticks and performing a flurry of hand signs before shooting out a small ball of fire onto the sticks, instantly igniting the campfire.

Naruto's eyes gleamed with amazement. "Aw MAN! That was so cool Kakashi-sensei! Can you teach me how to do that?"

The one-eyed man chuckled lightly. "Maybe after this mission is over with, I just MIGHT show you."

Sakura bit her lip to stifle her giggle at the blonde's expression. Sasuke rolled his eyes and stalked over to the farthest tree, the glow of the campfire barely touching him. "So, we'll need to each take shifts throughout the night keeping watch for any bandits or enemy nin." Kakashi began. "I'll take first watch, who's next?"

Naruto raised his hand eagerly, beating Sakura by half a second. "OOH! ME! I want to go next!" Sakura shook her head and volunteered to be Naruto's replacement, leaving Sasuke last.

Their sensei clapped his hands together and bid his students a good night's rest, leaping onto a tree branch out of reach of the campfire's glow. Tazuna grunted and retired to his tent, not uttering a single word to the genin.

"Hmph, well someone's grumpy." Naruto muttered. Sakura did not reply, but silently called out for Tori, who was quick to return to her outstretched finger.

"Hey there lil' guy." She cooed while gently scratching his feathery head. "Are ya hungry?"

The bird twittered anxiously and was quick to snatch up the crumbs she fed him. When he was satisfied, he fluttered into the air and disappeared inside the other empty tent.

"Huh, guess he's more tired than we are." The blonde closed his eyes and tossed his head skyward, taking in the sounds and scents of the night. His teammate studied him curiously for a moment before smirking mischievously. Silent as a cat, she carefully untied his headband and slid it from his head, her snickers alerting Naruto to her plot.

"Hey!" He exclaimed loudly when he noticed his headband in the hands of the pinkette. "Give that back!"

Sakura stuck out her tongue playfully, "Nope!" Naruto rushed forward and swiped for the headband, only to fall flat on his face as she swiftly sidestepped away. She wiggled the object teasingly.

"C'mon Na-ru-to." She taunted. "You'll have to do better than that!"

He growled playfully and pounced after her, making sure not to face plant the ground again. She laughed as he missed again, but was caught off guard when he suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. In a flash, Naruto had appeared right behind her, his hot breath sending chills down her spine.

"Ah ha!" He shouted as he swiped for the headband. Sakura let him grab it but didn't lessen her grip. He tugged and seemed surprised she hadn't lost her grip.

"Naruto…" She purred while lowering her eyelids seductively. The blonde froze and could literally hear his heartbeat racing in his chest. "Y-yes Sa-Sakura-chan?" He squeaked.

The pinkette yanked on the fabric of the headband, pulling the poor blonde forward until he was merely inches from her face. He began to sweat nervously and his knees trembled as she fluttered her eyelashes.

"Can't I just _hold_ onto your headband? Just for a _little_ while?" Her voice alone was sending Naruto on a one-way trip to cloud nine, and the way she was looking at him and her warm breath on his face wasn't helping either.

Sakura _slowly _closed her eyes and reopened them, her half-lidded gaze working its magic.

"S-s-sure S-Sa-Sakura-chan…..I…" His grip on the headband loosened and the fabric began to slowly slip between his fingers. Sakura felt the tug of a victory grin across her lips.

_**HEY! KIT! Don't let that pink vixen seduce you! **_Kyuubi roared. _**Geez you're making this waaay too easy for her. **_

Naruto groggily shook his head and tried to make sense of the Fox's words.

'_What are you talking about furball?'_

The Nine Tails sighed. _**You idiot. She's using her charm to make you into her little puppet! **_

'_Say what? You're not making any sense Fox.'_

_**Oh for the love of-. Listen brat, that pink vixen wants your Konoha headband correct? Well she's smart enough to know that with your Shadow Clone jutsu, she'll never be able to get the headband.**_

Naruto nodded his head as he began to understand.

_**So, she used her 'womanly charms' as you humans call it to turn you into a pile of mush and get what she wants. I, however, will not stand by and be humiliated by a vixen!**_

'_Oh now I get it! Well if she wants to play like that, then I'll just have to improvise…'_

Sakura waved her hand in Naruto's face, receiving no response whatsoever. She huffed and tried to control her rising anger.

'_That jerk. Just ignoring me like that!'_

_**Ooooh, someone craving attention? Doesn't sound like you Sakura**_, _**hehe.**_

She groaned and almost didn't respond to her irritating inner.

'_Shut up you! Quit popping in like that!' _After sending away her inner for the moment, she returned her attention to the blonde in front of her, who was now grinning devilishly.

"Now now Sakura, it's not fair to play tricks on people." He wagged his finger in front of her face like a mother would do while scolding a child.

The pinkette blinked in surprise. _'Aw crap, he figured me out. That was quick.'_

_**Keep playing with her Kit, think of it as….punishment for her being a naughty little vixen.**_

Naruto silently agreed with the Fox, not catching the sensual bit he'd thrown in, but that was Naruto for you. The blonde snatched his headband back from the unsuspecting girl and quickly fastened it around his forehead, before leaping backwards and landing a few feet away with another fox grin plastered on his face.

Sakura shook her head and recovered. "H-Hey! Get back here!" The blonde motioned for her to make her move and then he disappeared into the woods, followed closely by his teammate.

Naruto chuckled and created three shadow clones, spreading them out into the trees to throw off Sakura as he set up a trap. When he had finished, he chuckled and hid in the canopy of a nearby tree, waiting for his prey to follow.

Meanwhile, Sakura was getting more and more irritated, mainly due to the fact that each Naruto she caught was a clone and would quickly dispel in her face, leaving her even more annoyed than the last time.

"Grr…when I get my hands on the _real _Naruto I'm gonna-" She was interrupted by a rustling noise. "Naruto? If that's you I'm gonna pound you into next week!"

She made her way towards the origin of the rustling, not even bothering to check for a trap.

"I've got you noooooooooww!" She yelped as something wrapped around her ankle and yanked her upwards, flipping her upside down and leaving her dangling from a tree branch. She looked at her ankle and groaned as she realized she had set off a simple trap. Taking a deep breath, she hauled her torso upwards against gravity and tried to reach the knot around her ankle. The effort put a strain on her back and chest, leaving her long locks to add more weight to her head and thus make the task ten times more difficult. After three more attempts, Sakura gave up and resorted to just dangling there, while trying to come up with a plan.

"Hehehe, giving up already? That's not like you Sakura-chan."

Her eyes widened. _'That voice! It's-'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a pair of sapphires staring straight into her emeralds, the former glinting mischievously.

Naruto chuckled again and walked slowly around Sakura, inspecting his handiwork. Sakura swiped for his jacket, but he easily dodged her and smirked as she began to swing back and forth.

"Naruto Uzumaki! You cut me down from here this instant!" Naruto stopped and paused.

_**Good job Kit, now that she's caught, she's helpless prey. **_Kyuubi grinned devilishly.

Naruto frowned inwardly, not too happy with the Fox's word choice. _'Watch it furball. If you keep it up I'll stop right now._

The Fox Demon snarled in contempt but remained silent the rest of the time.

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and _glared _at her teammate, waiting with tested patience for the idiot to let her down. Her hopes soon began to die away as that ever so devious grin returned.

He couldn't help but laugh inwardly at the angry yet innocent look Sakura was giving him. He couldn't wait to get some payback.

"Sorry Sakura-chan, but I think it's my turn to play some tricks…"

The pinkette couldn't suppress the slight shudder that ran through her at the blonde's words. Of course, it was also a little hard to tell whether he was glaring or smiling with his eyes, due to the fact she was upside down and everything was confusing.

_**Oh I'm SOOO going to enjoy this! **_Inner Sakura laughed.

Naruto reached in his pocket and pulled out a bright black and blue striped feather and approached his teammate, his bright eyes twinkling childishly. Sakura whimpered under her breath, knowing her extreme weakness to tickles. He ran the feather across her cheek once and then settled on tickling her nose, her body shaking from her laughter.

"Hahahahahaha! N-Naruto! P-p-please s-stop! Hahaha!"

The blonde continued to tickle her nose, her laughter sending a warm feeling throughout his body. He didn't reply but instead created three clones and climbed atop them until he was level with Sakura's feet. She had an idea of what he was planning and tried to kick the blonde in the face, but the rope held her right foot securely and Naruto kept away from the free kicking foot. He deftly removed her right sandal and dropped it to the ground, Sakura still trying to avoid the inevitable.

"Sorry Sakura-chan, I warned you…" Sakura burst into a fit of laughter as the blonde tickled the bottom of her sensitive foot, her jerking straining the rope.

Naruto began to laugh with her and almost lost his balance a few times. "Having fun Sakura-chan?"

Before she could reply, both heard a sudden snap and with a loud thud Sakura fell headfirst onto the ground. "Sakura!"

He quickly dispelled his clones and jumped to her side, rolling her over so that she was facing the sky. He winced as he noticed the bruise beginning to form on her head and found himself feeling responsible.

"Sakura-chan are alright?" She didn't respond and her eyes were closed, which made him more worried. "Hey now, this isn't fair…" Still nothing. "If this is just another trick I won't-"

Naruto stopped as he realized she wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon. Smacking himself in the head for being an idiot, he picked Sakura up bridal style and decided to head back to camp. The only problem was…

'_Where IS camp?' _He thought.

In their childish fun, the two genin had unwittingly strayed far from camp, meaning they were now lost in unfamiliar territory.

"Perfect." He muttered. "First I knock Sakura-chan unconscious, and now I've gotten us both lost!"

Looking around him, he quickly realized that this spot was not the best place to be, due to the fact there was no moonlight in the area, only shadows and whatever lurked within them. Naruto decided to try and find a river or stream to stop at, knowing that their chances of avoiding any dangerous animals would be greatly decreased once there.

He summoned five clones and sent them to scout the area in search of either the camp or at least a river. After about ten minutes of searching his clones had not found anything except a massive thorn bush, an angry mama raccoon, and more shadows.

'_Wow, we must have gone farther than I thought.' _

He continued his search and still could find nothing but shadows. He began to feel a bit hopeless, until a faint whispering voice echoed in his ear. He strained to try and hear what the voice was saying, but the vaporous voice was so soft it was nearly impossible.

"_Look through the treesssss….." _

The blonde look ahead and suddenly heard the gentle gurgle of a stream. His face lit up and he turned around to thank the voice, but there was nothing there. Just the same eeriness staring right back at him, sending chills down his spine.

"Huh, I wonder what that was…"

Naruto carried Sakura through the tree and was relieved to see a flowing stream, the moonlight glinting of its surface. "Finally."

He carefully rested Sakura's body against a mossy boulder and once he was sure she was stable, he yanked off his sandals and rolled up the edge of his pants. The water had a chill to it and when he stuck his toe in, his body became covered in goose bumps.

"Yeesh! How the heck is this water so cold?"

After adjusting to the water temperature, Naruto unzipped his jacket and removed it, revealing the fishnet shirt he wore underneath. Folding the orange material somewhat neatly, he sat it on the shore and dove under the water, the cool liquid reawakening his senses and sending a refreshing feeling across his body.

While underwater, the blonde couldn't help but pucker his lips to resemble a fish when a bright blue fish stared at him. The action seemed to frighten the fish and he grinned widely, until a piece of driftwood smacked him in the face. In a flash his head broke the surface as he rubbed his forehead while mumbling something under his breath.

A tiny whimper caught his attention, his head turning to the source, his pink-haired teammate who was beginning to wake up. Silently, he climbed back onto shore and knelt near her body, water dripping constantly onto the grass. He watched quietly (which was quite an achievement for him) as her eyelashes fluttered until her eyes opened just a fraction.

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><p><em>Sakura<em>

Splashing is the first thing that I heard. It sounded faint but it was still there.

'_Since when were we near water?'_

I tried to remember what happened before I fell asleep, but everything was like a giant puzzle in my mind. Then I remembered the sound of Naruto's laughter and then my own.

'_That's right! We were chasing each other…I was trying to steal his headband…'_

Suddenly I was getting very tired of being surrounded in darkness and struggled to open my eyes. As my eyelids fluttered open, I noticed the presence of someone nearby, someone familiar…

"Hmm?" All I could make out was the moon shining brightly in the sky and the stars twinkling merrily, almost as if they were laughing.

I opened my eyes some more and soon recognized that familiar presence as Naruto. His face was looking at me with the most curious expression, his head tilted every so slightly to the left. The whiskers on his cheeks seemed to make his face look ten times cuter; reminding me of a curious fox kit I'd seen once in the woods. I blinked when I noticed his gravity-defying hair seemed to be shimmering in the moonlight, but when I looked closer I realized water droplets were forming in his hair and falling silently onto the ground with gentle "plunks".

"_Naruto?" _I whispered softly, my body still asleep.

His big blue eyes brightened and he smiled, "Sakura-chan! You're awake!"

My breath hitched as he hugged me as if I would blow away. A part of me wanted to clobber him, but another part thought it was cute and I couldn't bring myself to hit him. That was before I realized my dress was getting soaked.

"Ah!" I shrieked, "Naruto! Baka! Why are you all wet?"

He scratched the back of his head nervously and gestured towards the stream. "Well while you were unconscious I found this stream and decided to take a dip." His smile dropped a little. "I also found this stream so that we could follow it into a nearby town so we could hopefully meet up with Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke in the morning."

I stood up and noticed that none of the trees or bushes looked familiar. "Naruto…are we lost?"

He hesitated, "….Yes?"

I raised my hand to smack him and he flinched, but the hit never came. I sighed and turned away from him and tried to think.

"Did you try sending out your shadow clones?"

"Yeah, they searched in every direction but none of them could find the camp." He hung his head. "I'm sorry I got us lost Sakura-chan. It's all my fault."

_**You bet it's your fault! You little twerp!**_

'_Hey now! Give him a break! _

_**Why? He got us LOST!**_

'_Well yeah but…he tried and that's what matters. Besides, I egged him on by stealing his headband. It's both our faults.'_

My inner went silent and I put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "It's not your fault Naruto, I'm the one who took your headband. It's my fault."

He looked at me and chuckled, "Yeah well…I guess it's both our faults then."

I smiled at him. "Yeah."

We stood there for a few moments before making plans to follow the stream. Naruto grabbed his jacket and put it back on and shook his head, spraying me with water and making me giggle. We headed upstream and decided it would be best to take to the trees so that we could avoid any dangerous animals. It wasn't until an hour had passed that I began to notice Naruto's eyes drooping.

'_He must be exhausted. We've been traveling all day and he hasn't slept all night.'_

I tried not to worry about him but I could no longer ignore it when he almost crashed into a tree branch.

"Naruto!"

His eyes snapped open and he front-flipped over the branch. He didn't say anything and he continued to look straight ahead. I knew he was trying to be strong, but for Kami's sake he needed sleep!

I stopped and waited for him to notice I was no longer beside him. When he did notice, he turned and just looked at me.

"Sakura?"

"Naruto you need to take a break, you haven't slept all night." He shook his head.

"No I'm fine, really. I can keep going…" He tried to leap to the next branch and landed poorly, but leaned against the tree and tried to smile.

"See, I'm fine."

I groaned and started to admonish him when I heard a different noise. I looked and saw that he had fallen asleep standing and was lightly snoring. I smiled and shook my head.

"Oh Naruto."

I landed next to him and looked at the still dark sky.

'_There are still a few more hours until morning.' _I looked at Naruto. _'I guess I'll have to carry him for a change.'_

I took a deep breath and managed to get his sleeping form onto my back. Once I got his arms over my shoulders they tightened slightly around my neck. I took off and found that it wasn't as hard to adjust to carrying someone as I'd thought. Little did I know, I was getting closer to our team.

* * *

><p><em>Same Time-3<em>_rd__ P.O.V_

"_Hey…Eri…wake up!" _A blonde whispered while shaking her sleeping teammate.

"Mmmmm….Kaori….?" The blackette rubbed her eyes. "Whazgoinon?"

Kaori rolled her eyes and sighed. _"Wake up beauty queen and keep your voice down!"_

Now Eri was able to make out the form of Kaori crouching next to her, an amused look in her eyes.

"_What's going on? Has something happened?" _The blonde shook her head. _"Then what's wrong?"_

Kaori rolled her eyes and flicked her teammate's forehead. _"What's going on is it's my turn to keep watch."_

Eri didn't react at first, but soon the realization hit her and her eyes widened and she jumped to her feet drowsily.

"_Oh crap! Did I fall asleep on duty?" _Kaori nodded and the blackette hung her head. _"Damn."_

"_Aw c'mon Eri, just think, now you can finish up your beauty sleep ne?"_

Eri shook her head and found herself once again staring at her teammate's unusual eyes.

'_Why can't I get over her eyes? Just because they look different doesn't mean she's not the same Kaori I know…'_

Kaori's aqua orbs seemed to glow dimly in the low light, her cat-like pupils still slightly unnerving the blackette.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

"_Eri, Ichiba, where is Kaori? She should have been here by now." The two genin shrugged._

"_Sorry sensei, I haven't heard from her since training yesterday." Ichiba replied. _

_Eri shook her head. "Same here."_

_Lord Moto sighed and rubbed his temples slowly. "Ryo we don't have time for this. Your student needs to b-"_

_Suddenly, said student swooped in from an open window and landed in a kneeling position, her sides heaving and her words coming out in short gasps._

"_For….give me….Lord Moto…I-" The older man silenced her impatiently. "I will overlook this behavior this time, but from now on you **must **report here as soon as you are given any notice. Understood?"_

_The blonde genin nodded and got back to her feet, her breathing already back to normal, which made Eri feel a bit envious._

"_Now that your team is here, it's time to assign a more…challenging mission for you."_

_Ryo's eyebrow raised a bit and her students looked at each other in surprise. _

"_What do you mean by 'challenging' Lord Moto?" The old man seemed to smirk a bit. _

"_I mean a mission that doesn't require your team to hunt down lost pets or pull weeds." The three genin's eyes sparkled dramatically._

"_Alright…what mission have you chosen then?" The dark-haired woman inquired. "I've decided your team is responsible and skilled enough to handle a **low** C rank mission." He chuckled at the children's reaction. "Besides, they need to get out of sight of the village fences eh? Ryo?"_

_The woman seemed to be lost in thought, but she had a knack for having one ear open while she pondered the decision. "Well, they have all shown much improvement in their teamwork and also their Taijutsu and Ninjutsu…"_

_She paused and glanced over at Kaori, who was staring at her with bright, soulful eyes, which were really sending silent messages to her, pleading for this chance._

_Ryo sighed and shook her head while smiling at her Lord, "I think it's a wonderful idea and I'm confidant in my team to execute it with precision and the utmost sincerity."_

_Suddenly the room was flooded by the sounds of three young genin whooping excitedly. They all bowed graciously to Lord Moto and then bowed to their sensei. _

_Lord Moto explained the mission: they were hired by a wandering merchant to travel to his last location somewhere in the woods near the road leading to Konoha. The man had been ambushed by sleazy bandits and in his panic he dropped his mother's old music box._

"_The poor fellow explained to me that it was a family heirloom and it is very dear to his heart." The man looked over Team 10, "That's why he's hired you to go and retrieve the music box." He pulled out a scroll and handed it to Ryo. "This is a map marked by the merchant of where he was ambushed. He said the bandits took a few of his things, but were frightened off by something in the woods."_

_Team 10 nodded and prepared to leave when Kaori made a request. _

"_L-Lord Moto…..I…." She glanced over to her teammates. "I...I have something I need to say."_

_The older man shifted his position in his chair so that he was leaning back, with one hand holding up his head. "You have my permission to speak, Kaori."_

_The blonde Jinchuriki didn't talk right away, she just took slow, deep breaths to calm her nerves before finding her voice again._

"_I'd like to show you all something…" She looked over at her friends with fear and shame written across her face. "I've been hiding something from you all. Something I should have shown you a long time ago."_

_Eri and Ichiba looked confused and uncertain and when they looked to their sensei for help, she was too busy staring at Kaori with worried warmth in her eyes._

"_It would be better if you show them Kaori." The dark-haired women said._

_The blonde nodded and closed her eyes before making the sign for dispelling a henge._

"_Henge…" She whispered._

_There wasn't a puff of clouds or anything like her teammates suspected. Ichiba took a step towards her. "Neko-chan? What's wrong? What are you trying t-"_

_The boy let out a surprised gasp as her eyes opened and two black, cat-like slits observed him. Eri froze and her knees locked up and her brain went numb from shock. _

"_I….I should have told you sooner…but…" Her true eyes glittered with sadness. "I was afraid you'd reject me a-and want to be on a different team….."_

_She looked up with hopeful eyes and waited patiently for their response. Lord Moto seemed unperturbed by the girl's eyes, but he was curious of how she had kept this from him for so long._

'_She must have gotten hold of a scroll with instructions on how to perform a henge properly…but how long has she been doing this? I don't ever remember seeing her eyes like this…' Lord Moto thought._

_Ichiba shook his head a couple times before walking up to his friend and taking her smaller hand in his. She looked at him as if he was crazy and he just smiled back._

"_Kaori, true friends don't judge a friend by their appearances or how much money they have. True friends only care about the safety of that friend, always being by their side to help."_

_Eri wanted so badly to walk over and join her teammates, but her body was still frozen, despite her brain shrieking for it to move. She started when something gently nudged her forward. She turned to see her sensei looking at her with a motherly expression as she looked to Kaori and then back to her. The blackette understood and suddenly she had control over her body again. She shoved her fear to the dark depths of her mind and went to stand on the other side of Ichiba, her eyes focused on Kaori's face and not her eyes._

"_Now what kind of friends would we be if we hated you for something you can't control?" The blonde smiled in relief._

* * *

><p><em>End Flashback<em>

"Heh, I think you're the one who needs her beauty sleep." The blackette smirked as she dodged her teammate's fist.

"Ah ah ahh, no abandoning your post KA-O-RI." The blonde's eyes flashed before she rolled her eyes and turned her back on the black-haired girl.

'_Haha, try not to fall asleep like me Kaori.' _Eri smothered a chuckle before crawling into her tent and letting sleep finally take over.

* * *

><p>Hey everybody! I'm so excited about finally getting this chapter up! I've been kinda stuck on how to proceed with Team 10's first "big" mission, so I had some cases of writers block, but now I've got it all figured out! :D<p>

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review as you leave. x3 Your reward this time is...*insert drumroll* A custom Nyan Cat alarm clock! :D

NYANNYANYANYANYANYAN! OwO


	9. Chapter 9

**OHMYGOSH! I'm so sorry for the wait, and I feel doubly bad about my other NaruSaku fic, Changed Destiny, but I've been swampd with family drama lately and haven't been around on the weekends much, followed by school and tests and ugh...EVERYTHING!**

** I'm working on Changed Destiny now, but as most of you have probably learned, I'm a slow updater. ^_^;;**

**I do not own Naruto. Only my Oc's.**

* * *

><p><em>Sakura-3<em>_rd__ P.O.V_

'_Is it just me? Or is Naruto getting heavier?' _Sakura wondered as she adjusted the body slung over her back and shoulders.

_**You're exhausted. You've been running through this forest for two hours straight!**_

Sakura grunted under the increasing strain of her teammate. _'I know. But Naruto is out and we've got to find Kakashi-sensei and the others.'_

Her inner didn't reply and Sakura was grateful. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, sweat trickling down her brow and neck.

'_Kami why does it have to be so hot at night?'_

The pinkette adjusted Naruto's sleeping body once again before setting off. She knew that if she stopped once more, she wouldn't be able to start again.

After 10 minutes, Sakura's eye began to droop as black dots flickered across her vision. She began to stumble and almost fell onto the ground, but she kept going.

As she continued onward, she heard a faint rustling in some bushes below. The girl stopped and almost collapsed from the sudden wave of exhaustion.

'_Shit….I…..Overdid it….' _She mentally cursed.

The rustling started up again, but now it sounded more like sniffing – faint - but still there. Sakura scanned over the forest floor and almost shrieked when something suddenly popped out of a nearby bush.

It was a small, brown pug. It had a Leaf Village headband tied around its head, much like Sakura's. The dog also had a blue vest around its torso, with a white circle on the back with the _heno-heno-moheji_ seal inside it.

'_A ninken?' _Sakura thought.

The dog began to sniff the ground once more and turned to reveal a bandaged right foreleg. It circled itself twice before looking up and spotting Sakura and the blonde-haired boy on her back.

Sakura started and slipped off the branch she stood on, very nearly crashing to the ground. The pinkette's hand latched onto another branch while the other hand clutched the collar of Naruto's jacket.

'_Son of a-!' _ She felt her hand slipping on the branch, while both her arms were on fire and screaming for her to let go.

"Hey girl! You can let him go. I'll catch him."

Sakura opened one eye and looked to see the small ninken underneath where her friend was hanging. "Don't worry. I got him ok?"

The pinkette wanted to yell 'No thank you', but her grip suddenly slipped on Naruto's jacket and his body was quickly falling to the ground.

Her arm muscles were almost torn and it felt as if they were being stabbed repeatedly with tiny daggers. Sakura let out a cry of pain and the black dots returned. She forced her right arm to grab the branch and slowly pulled herself up.

The dog stood ready as the boy fell and found himself suddenly regretting suggesting he catch the boy. "Me and my big mouth." He muttered.

He steeled himself and when the body came down on him he was flattened into a small, dog-shaped crater. Sakura cried out Naruto's name and leaped onto the ground next to him and reached out to turn him over, when her vision went black. She held herself up as she battled with her body to stay awake. When she opened her eyes she could see multiple black dots still but she ignored them.

"Naruto?" She turned his body over and gasped when she saw the small crater underneath.

A paw poked out of the crater as the ninken began to drag himself out. "Ugh…what was I thinking?" He groaned.

"Um…excuse me but…who are you?" Sakura said. The dog looked at her through half-lidded eyes. "The name's Pakkun." He glanced at Naruto. "I take it you're Sakura Haruno and that is Naruto Uzumaki?"

The pinkette nodded, "Yes…how did you know that?" Pakkun sat on his haunches and began scratching his ear. "Kakashi summoned me to find you two. I've been out here for three hours sniffing for you two." He stopped scratching. "It wasn't until I got close to the river that I finally caught your scent."

Sakura nodded and found herself looking at Naruto. "Hey is he ok?"

She chuckled, "Yes he's fine. He's just tired and fell asleep while running."

Pakkun's expression didn't change. "Alright c'mon. We need to get back to Kakashi and that Sasuke kid."

Sakura didn't say a word as she hefted Naruto's body onto her back once more. Her legs shook from the exhaustion and the black dots increased in size, but she followed Pakkun without complaint.

'_I can't wait to get back to camp.' _She thought tiredly. _'Maybe I'll finally get some sleep…'_

The duo traveled for about an hour before Pakkun led Sakura into a familiar clearing.

"Ah, I see you finally found my missing students." The young genin's eyes lit up in recognition.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

The scarecrow-man eye-smiled and waved. "Well hello Sakura." He glanced at Naruto. "Should I even ask?"

The pinkette wearily shook her head. Kakashi nodded and turned to Pakkun. "Thanks for your help Pakkun." He said with a smile.

The dog nodded, "No problem Kakashi, just doin' my job."

"Be sure to say hi to the others for me would you?"

"Gotcha."

Then with a poof he was gone, leaving Kakashi, Sakura, and a sleeping Naruto alone.

"Kakashi-sensei, please forgive us. We didn't mean to stray from camp. It-it was a stupid thing to do…"

The silver-haired jonin said nothing. "We were just playing around and I ended up chasing Naruto's clones farther into the woods and he caught me in a trap."

Kakashi's eye widened a bit. "Wait a second. Naruto Uzumaki caught you - Sakura Haruno - in a trap?" The young girl blushed. "Well…uh…yeah…Anyway, I don't really remember anything for awhile after that because I fell and I guess I hit my head."

Sakura explained what happened after she woke up and how Pakkun had finally found them. Kakashi nodded towards Naruto. "So, I assume you haven't slept at all?" She nodded tiredly.

"Well that makes things…difficult." He paused to think. "The sun will be up in another hour, which means we'll be heading out as soon as it's light enough out."

Sakura almost collapsed from the news. "Naruto should be fine since he's gotten to sleep somewhat. However…" Sakura waved him off.

"Oh don't worry about me Kakashi-sensei, I'll be fine, really." He looked her over and shook his head. "I don't think so Sakura. You've been up all night and the only sleep you actually got was brief unconsciousness. You need to rest, otherwise your body will shut down."

The pinkette swayed but kept her balance. "When we get ready to head out, I'll have Naruto carry you while you rest, ok?" She nodded and with that done she let herself be consumed by sleep and fell to the ground, with Naruto's body falling off to the side.

"OW! Mmmm…what the heck?" Naruto grumbled as he rubbed his head. "What's goin' on?"

Kakashi smiled and walked over and picked up Sakura's limp form. "Good morning Naruto, have a nice rest?" He said with raised eyebrows.

The blonde shook his head and looked at Kakashi with bug eyes. "Kakashi-sensei!" He looked at Sakura. "Hey is she ok? I didn't hurt her did I?"

"No Naruto, she's just resting from carrying your sorry butt around half the night." Kakashi replied with a chuckle.

Naruto was quiet for once and just stared at Sakura's sleeping form. "Naruto, you'll have to carry Sakura once we head out alright?"

He nodded and followed his sensei back to camp, trying to remember what happened.

_**You fell asleep. Simple as that. **_The Fox growled. _**That pink vixen carried you for two hours straight. **_The Fox snorted. _**How humiliating.**_

'_Hey! I fell asleep! What else was she gonna do?'_

_**It's humiliating! I, the mighty Nine Tailed Fox, being sealed into a weak little brat and THEN being carried by a weak, pink VIXEN! **_The Nine Tails ranted.

'_HEY! DON'T YOU DARE CALL SAKURA-CHAN WEAK!'_

_**I can call her whatever I like, and you can't do anything about it. **_The Fox growled.

Naruto was about to unleash his fury on the pesky Demon, when he was brought out of his little argument by Kakashi's voice.

"Huh? What did you say Kakashi-sensei?" The silver-haired man studied Naruto briefly.

"I asked if you were hungry, seeing as you've been gone all night."

Naruto's stomach answered the jounin's question quite loudly, earning another eye-smile from Kakashi. "I'll take that as a yes."

He reached into his pack lying next to his tent and produced a bar of some kind and an apple. He held them out to the blonde who in turn gave the man a confused look.

"Can't I just make some of the ramen I brought in my pack?" He asked as he eyed the food.

"We don't have time for that Naruto, those are for you to eat on the way. The sun is already rising and besides," he chuckled slightly. "We wouldn't want you to start throwing up ramen chunks would we?"

Naruto groaned but took a bite of the ration bar and chewed slowly, the taste not as bland and dry as he originally thought.

'_I still want my ramen.' _He mentally pouted.

* * *

><p><em>Kaori-3rd P.O.V<em>

A light fog drifted through the copse of trees surrounding Kaori, her senses already heightened to prevent any unknown enemy from using the mist as cover.

Her eyes darted from different shadows that curled and danced in the fog until they rolled back into a dull grey mist once more. Her fingers gripped a kunai while her ears twitched subtly at each sound in range. After another few moments, her lips parted to reveal abnormally elongated canines as she let out a silent sigh.

'_It's so quiet with all this fog.' _She mused. _'It's also so dark, even thought the sun is rising, the shadows are still here.'_

Kaori glanced in the direction where one of her clones stood guard, followed by other clones surrounding the perimeter of the camp. So far there had been no trouble, but she had expected there not to be. After all, they were only on a retrieval mission for some merchant. The only possible threat would be the bandits the man ran into, but even then they were just lowly bandits. Child's play for Team 10.

She sighed again and straightened her back to pop the small kinks in her muscles. The blonde prepared to head back to camp when tiny, almost silent, steps scratched at the edge of her hearing. Kaori swiveled her head around to pinpoint the origin and allowed a small smirk to cross her face as she stalked after the possible threat.

'_The steps are almost completely silent, which means whoever is running is using chakra to try and silence them.'_

Kaori tailed the mysterious nin and it wasn't long before she realized the footfalls were heading towards the camp. She gritted her teeth and sped after the figure, successfully cutting it off and facing the threat with a kunai poised to strike.

"Who are you?" She barked. "Why are you here?"

The mysterious man simply stared at her with a gleam of amusement in his black eyes, the wind blowing through his gray ponytail. She caught a soft chuckle as he adjusted his black-rimmed glasses.

"I don't think my name is of any importance to you. As for why I'm here…" He put a hand on his hip. "I am merely obeying the orders of my Lord."

Kaori kept her cold composure, but she couldn't ignore the bad vibe she was getting from this guy.

"I don't care who your precious Lord is, but if you wish to return to him you should leave." She fixed the man with a look that could kill. "Now."

The strange man studied the blonde for a moment or two before disappearing in a tiny wisp of smoke. Kaori's eyes darted wildly as she tried to focus on the man's chakra. She felt a tug and raised her right hand just in time to block the kunai aimed for her throat.

"Hm. Impressive. You were able to stop my attack, even when you had no clear idea of where I would strike." He smirked while she glared at him with hate. "But I guess that is to be expected…from a Jinchuriki."

The accursed title caught Kaori off guard and her hand slipped, allowing the man's kunai to cut her cheek. She haphazardly threw her kunai at his foot and used his split second dodge to propel herself backwards a few feet. Blood trickled down to her chin from the small cut on her cheek, her eyes hardened once more, but still lit by surprise.

"I'm quite impressed by your boldness. It takes a lot to not hide the evidence of what you are." Kaori growled at the praise. "So, I assume that is your team correct?"

When she didn't reply, he smirked that unnerving smirk. "Thought so. They are your only family too I'm guessing, seeing as you are nothing but a vessel for one of the great tailed beasts."

"Shut up!" The blonde shouted angrily. "You don't know anything!"

He chuckled darkly and produced a small, orange card from a pouch. "Oh but I do." He pushed up his glasses and began to read.

"Sabaki Kaori.

Age 12.

Jinchuriki.

Elemental type unknown.

Member of Team 10 of Ishimaru Village. Teammates are Kaizen Ichiba and Nuka Eri.

Team leader is Yamashita Ryo."

He stopped and was not surprised by the look of pure shock on the young genin's face. He put the card away and walked towards the camp again. In a flash, Kaori stood before him, pointing her kunai at him with her right hand, while her left held multiple shuriken.

Her voice was determined and had a tint of savageness to it as she growled, "Stay away from my team."

The gray-haired man sighed and immediately coated his hands in blue chakra. "Fine then. But before we battle you should know my name. It's Kabuto Yakushi."

Without a word Kaori rushed forward, her kunai held ready to slice or deflect. Kabuto took a few quick steps towards her and aimed for her stomach, but all he hit was a small log.

'_Hm. So she's not as reckless as I first thought. This changes things.' _He smirked. _'But not much.'_

His hand shot out and latched onto the wrist swinging towards his chest, giving him an opening to attack. He struck her square in the side and barely had enough time to dodge the flying shuriken that shot out from the dispersed clone.

'_She's clever, I'll give her that.'_

Kabuto reached into his weapons pouch and snatched some wire, using his chakra to hide it as he weaved it loosely around his arm, while grabbing some shuriken in the other hand.

"You can't hide behind your clones forever." He taunted as he kicked away another clone, his sharp eyes searching for the real Kaori. He grinned when he found her, shoving towards her and dispatching her clones with ease.

Kaori attempted to evade his lunge, but at the last second he disappeared once again and reappeared on her left, catching her off guard and giving him an opening.

Blood slowly oozed out of the cuts made by the wire wrapped around her body, her struggles only slowly making her weaker and tired. The blonde spit at Kabuto when he approached, earning herself a swift chakra punch to the gut, sending her to her knees gasping for breath.

"Now, now, we both know struggling will only cause you more pain and eventually death." He said in a creepy, soft tone. "I'm sure the world wouldn't miss you much though, would it?"

She snarled and bared her teeth at him, "SHUT UP YOU BASTARD!"

"Oh my, temper, temper. You should calm down before that beast inside you takes over and forces you to kill your only family."

She merely growled but had to admit that he was right. In the meantime, she needed to warn her team before this Kabuto guy did whatever it was that made him seem so…deadly.

Kaori opened her mouth to yell, but suddenly the wires shifted and some were now cutting into her throat, the blood trickling onto the dirt.

'_SHIT! If I even open my mouth now it's all over.' _

_**For once I agree with you girl. One wrong move and it's over for you. And as much as I would love to be set free and destroy everything in my path, I am still weak from that pathetic excuse of a transfer from your father to you. **_The Two Tails growled. _**I'm not at full strength and I'd only be destroyed by another Jinchuriki or sealed away in something even more boring than a human.**_

Kaori watched helplessly as Kabuto strode towards her team, her slit orbs searching desperately for her sensei to spring a trap and kill this dangerous man. As the seconds dragged on, she felt her mouth begin to open to warn her friends and sensei, but then the sharp pain of the wires dug into her throat and she stopped herself.

'_What's going on? Why hasn't Ryo-sensei attacked already? She must have sensed him by now…'_

As she racked her brain for an answer, Kabuto had reached the tents and in a flash of silver had cut the wires holding the logs and paper bomb tags above him.

"Nice trap, but you'll have to do better than that." He mocked while adjusting his glasses once more.

Suddenly, Ryo appeared behind him, while Ichiba rushed down with his **Bolt Fang** jutsu alight and aimed for the man's head. With an unimpressed grunt, Kabuto dodged the poison kunai and latched onto Ryo's wrist and swung the toxic weapons towards her student. At the same time he engulfed his hand in blue chakra and jabbed Ichiba's arm, temporarily cutting off the flow of chakra and thus dissipating the boy's jutsu.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. So fast that Kaori hoped she had just imagined it. Ichiba was hunched over the ground on all fours, retching violently from the sudden effects of the poison. Ryo looked at her student in horror and then glared at Kabuto with fire in her eyes.

"How dare you!" She shouted angrily as she sped through a couple hand signs before slamming one hand onto the ground and the other over her abdomen.

Kaori let out a sound of surprise and horror. _'That's one of Ryo-sensei's most powerful justsu!' _Her fists clenched and the wires dug deeper. _'There's no way he'll be able to survive!'_

She turned her attention to Ichiba, who was now in a loose fetal position on his side, his body trembling and convulsing wildly at strange intervals, drool dribbling from his mouth. The sight tore at her core and once again her muscles tensed, but the wires dug even deeper and she was forced to stay still.

'_I can't just sit here and do nothing! He needs help!'_

The low rumble of the Two Tails joined in. _**I agree. I may detest you filthy humans, but I still have some pride and honor left and this is pure, heartless torture. Try surrounding the wires with your chakra and try to loosen them. If that does not work, channel some of my chakra into them and they will break.**_

The blonde obeyed, but was quickly disappointed that her chakra had no effect on the wires. She then slowly channeled some of the Nibi's chakra into the wires and prayed that this would work. When nothing happened she opened her eyes and bit her lip to prevent a wail from escaping her lips.

_**WHAT? Why did that not work? It is not possible! **_The Nibi roared in anger as tears rolled down the Jinchuriki's cheeks.

Through the tears, Kaori could see the battle between her sensei and Kabuto, but for some reason she could no longer hear anything. She tiredly pushed chakra into her ears but still nothing. The blonde would have hung her head in defeat if it weren't for the wires digging into her flesh.

'_I'm still dangerous. I should have just warned them and none of this would be happening. I kill everyone I ever care about…'_

By now Eri had joined the battle, trying as best as a genin can to defeat someone who was way out of her league. As much as she tried to help, she was only exhausting her sensei's chakra by getting in the way and needing the protection of the earth and rocks formed by the older woman's jutsu.

Kaori suddenly remembered something Sayuri had once told her. Something about silence being a virtue. She snorted at the irony of it all. Then she began to wonder if maybe it were best if she just let the wires end her miserable existence. Open her mouth just enough and it would be over, lots of blood but whoever cared how a Jinchuriki died anyway?

All these thoughts and memories swam around the girl's head and suddenly there was someone shoving her. Pushing her. Voices booming like a bad headache.

Voices? How? There was no sound…

She blinked a few times and all her senses came back to her at once. First it was her sight; her teammates and sensei crowded around her. Next it was her hearing and then everything else.

"Huh….wah? Wah-What….happened?" She covered her left eye as if it hurt. "How are you-? I thought…."

Ryo spoke up first, placing a calming hand on her shoulder. "We were all put under separate genjutsu." She explained. "They didn't take anything, but Eri's has some strange bite marks on her shoulder."

Ichiba was murmuring words into the blackette's ear, but Eri seemed too traumatized to hear them.

The blonde stood slowly, the tight coils of the imaginary wires still lingering on her uncut skin. "So…none of it was real? None of it?" Ryo shook her head no.

Kaori almost cried out in relief, but instead bent over and supported herself on her knees, breathing in and out slowly before rising again. She needed to tell them what she saw.

"Ryo-sensei, I think you should all know what I saw in the genjutsu." The older woman agreed. "It would be good to get it off our minds, especially since we all saw something different."

The young Jinchuriki took a few deep breaths before scanning her demon eyes over her team. "It all started while I was on guard duty…"

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><p><strong>Sorry about the short chapter but I got it done and I just NEEDED tp update this story so viola! Any questions? Ask me.<strong>


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